The Life and Times of a Times Reporter
by Meum Cerebrum Nocet
Summary: Rory Gilmore's life was going along just fine, thank you very much. Then she got the story, her mother got married, and her secret got even harder to keep.
1. Chapter 1

**The Life and Times of a Times Reporter**

**Chapter One**

She stands proudly, her hands on her hips as she surveys the room before her. It is a buzz with activity: the clacking of keyboards; the clicking of the printer; a light chatter of conversation; even the sound of quick footsteps. This is just the way she likes it. Activity means the reporters and editors are busy. Busy reporters and editors means that stories are being researched, written, and checked over. All is good.

With a contended sigh, Editor-in-Chief Rory Gilmore returns to her office and the seemingly endless list of tasks she has to complete. Busy is good, she reminds herself as she sits behind her desk and turns to her computer. The brunette shakes her mouse to wake up her computer and leans back to wait for the slightly out-dated machine to respond.

As she does, a knock sounds on her door. What now, she thinks before calling out for the knocker to enter. Whoever is on the other side of the oak door must not hear her as a knock sounds again. Again, Rory calls out. Again, the knock sounds.

Getting a little annoyed, Rory stands from her desk to answer the door. However, when she pulls open the wooden panel, there is no one there.

The knock sounds again.

Confused, Rory begins searching out the noise, but no source is immediately identifiable. What is going on?

"Mom!" the soft, though slightly concerned voice calls as the knock sounds a fifth time. Who is calling mom? Rory isn't a mom. What is going on?

"Mom! Wake up! We're going to be late?" the voice is louder, more panicked, and insistent. Rory's heart skips a beat.

* * *

The dream dissolved from one moment to the next. Reality quickly swept in. Rory was not at the office. She was not Editor-in-chief. She was, in fact, a mom. And it was her young son, anxious and worried, who was calling out to her and knocking on the door.

Groggily, Rory rolled over. What is he doing awake? It is still the middle of the night. The clock says –

"Shit," Rory swore, making sure to keep her voice low, a habit she has acquired from having a son who mimics every single word she says.

It was not the middle of the night. It was 7:30 am. She had half-an-hour to get ready, eat, and get her son to school for his 8 o'clock school start time. What happened to her 6:00 am alarm? She didn't have time to consider it at that moment. Rory Gilmore had to get her butt in gear.

"I'm awake, Ricky! Are you ready? Are you dressed? Have you brushed your teeth? You can have some of that sugary cereal for breakfast! I'll be right out!" Rory called out to her 9-year-old son, but is he heard her, she didn't know. No response came and she didn't have the time to check if he was ready for school and eating breakfast. Instead, she grabbed her outfit, laid out the night before, and headed to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes after being awoken from her dream, Rory was reasonably presentable. She didn't have any interviews or pitch meetings, so it would only be her two cubicle mates that would have to look at her, and neither Martin nor Claudia seemed to care what Rory looked like; they were both much too focused on their jobs. Also, it was the best she could do and still get Ricky to school on time so her current, slightly mussed state would have to do.

She rushed out of the main room of her small apartment, her stockinged feet slipping slightly on the floor as she did so. A small blonde boy was sitting at the small, slightly beaten kitchen table. His legs were swinging underneath the chair several inches off the floor. He was obviously anxious about potentially being late for school.

"Okay, Ricky. I'm ready. Let's go! We've got just enough time!" Rory called out as she slipped on her shoes and hooked her messenger-style bag over her shoulder. It was the perfect bag for carrying her notes and story documents, but if she wore it for too long, it started to hurt her shoulder. Ricky gave his mother an exasperated look before grabbing his more sensible backpack and heading to the door.

"You didn't sign my permission slip," Ricky muttered as Rory closed the door and locked it behind her.

"I'll sign it tonight," Rory responded, flustered and hurrying her sullen son towards the stairs and the busy New York street outside the front door. Ricky mumbled something else, but Rory didn't catch the words. All she was focused on was walking the nearly twelve blocks to Ricky's school in the seven minutes they had left before the bell rang. It would be quite the feet and she couldn't afford to be distracted by anything.

* * *

Rory walked into the bustling offices of the New York Times nearly an hour late. She and Ricky had managed to make it to school just at the final toll of the bell sounded. He had bounded up the stairs and blended in with the other students who had arrived on time. Rory had begun to feel quite proud of herself, having somehow managed to pull off the impossible.

Then it had hit her.

Did Ricky have a lunch? Rory couldn't remember making one the night before. She definitely hadn't made him on that morning. Did Ricky have a lunch in his bag? He wasn't holding it in his hand like he normally would have.

Quickly, Rory had run up the stairs after her son. She'd already forgotten his permission slip; she couldn't also forget to feed him. Surely, they would revoke her mom card for that.

"Ricky!" Rory had called, rushing through the busy hallways of her son's school. Children had looked up as she pushed passed, no doubt wondering what was wrong with the crazy woman. Finally, Rory had caught up with Ricky.

"Mom!" he had complained, "you're embarrassing me!"

"Lunch, Ricky. I need to make sure you have a lunch. I can't remember if I packed you one," Rory had whispered as she had begun to rifle through his bag. No lunch.

Realisation had then dawned on her son and his eyes had widened to the size of saucers in disbelief. Rory's heart had broken at that. She'd let her son down. Again.

"I'll get you something and leave it at the office! Go to class before you're late!" Rory had commanded, pushing Ricky towards the brightly coloured door that signified his fourth grade class.

It was because Rory had needed to find a last minute lunch for her son that Rory was late for work. She just hoped no one noticed.

As inconspicuously as possible, Rory walked to her desk and began the process of logging on to her computer. While she waited for the aged machine to boot up, she busied herself with organizing her paper notes. It may be a little old school, but Rory loved the feel of paper and pen while interviewing and researching. It just wasn't the same to type everything up. That stage came once she was sure she had everything finalised and ready to go to print.

Her computer was finally, and unfortunately loudly, booted up when the editor of major news poked her head into Rory's cubicle.

"Ah, Ms. Gilmore. Great to finally see you in the office today," Miranda, her boss, spoke. Rory struggled to pin down the other woman's tone. Was it genuine cheer or was it sarcastic? Not all reporters are always at their desks. It was quite normal for them to be absent for long stretches of time, in fact. So, Rory wasn't sure if her boss was suspicious of Rory's late entry or not.

"A word in my office, if you will," the woman, a strange sneer-like smile on her face, continued. Rory had less than an ideal relationship with Miranda. She often felt that the older woman, for whatever reason, was keeping her down. Rory was rarely given more than puff pieces and local interest stories; she hadn't had a real story in years. The woman had relatively cordial, business-like interactions, never particularly upsetting but also never more than pleasant greetings and work related discussions.

Now, she wasn't sure what to think. Why did Miranda want to talk to her? Was it good or bad? Slowly, Rory stood and followed after her boss. Better to get this over with now than sit at her desk and stew about what it could mean.

* * *

Miranda's office was something to be envied. Windows made up most of the two exterior walls of the room. The other walls were decorated with a mixture of tasteful modern art and award-winning pieces of journalism clipped from the pages of the New York Times in which they'd originally been published. The furniture matched the esthetic of the artwork to a tee. Rory, who was never all that concerned with interior design (a trait she proudly shared with her mother), still felt a jealous desire to have the office as her own whenever she walked into the spacious room.

This time, however, Rory didn't even look at what was in the office. She was far too focused on what Miranda wanted, what the wholly unpleasant woman would say.

All Miranda did was smile warmly at Rory for a minute before motioning to a plush chair set across from the large mahogany desk. Slowly, apprehensively, Rory sank down into the chair. She tried to plaster a smile on her face, but her internal emotions were so confused that she couldn't seem to control her facial muscles.

"Look, Miranda," Rory heard herself talk before she was aware that she was doing it. Miranda just levels her with a look that tells her to stop talking, which Rory's crazy muddled brain actually listened too. Rory sat in the plush chair quietly, waiting for Miranda to speak.

"Rory. You've been here for a few years now, and I know you haven't gotten to work on the most exciting stories in your time here," Miranda spoke. Rory felt herself tensing, bracing for what was coming. "I'm a firm believer in putting in the work. Nowadays, so many people are just handed success without having to work for it and just look at the mess we're in.

"But I digress. I think you're finally earned your chance at a big story, an investigable piece that will really test you as a journalist. This could be the story of the year, if you do it right. So, make sure you do it justice, really put in the work and the research, and don't mess this up." Miranda slid a large manila folder across the desk and motioned for Rory to leave.

Not wanted to spend a single second longer in Miranda's presence, Rory grabbed the folder without even really looking at it and hustled out of the room.

* * *

Rory didn't look at the folder until she was back in her cubicle and seated comfortably at her desk. Only then did she feel steady enough to open it. A big story was what Rory had been waiting for since she got the job at the New York Times nearly five years previously. She was a journalist, after all. A real journalist can only write about community center openings and street fairs for so long.

'This,' she thinks, 'is my big break. My name will finally be out there. I'll have a meaningful story under my belt.' Slowly, Rory opened the folder, revelling in the victory. As it lightly thuds open on her desk, the contents, basic research amounting to a simple profile, finally revealed, Rory froze.

Stuck on top of the familiar face and background information is a small sticky note with the word 'Corrupt?' written on it.

'The NYT wants to do an exposé on Logan Huntzberger and his potentially corrupt business practices? And they want me to be the reporter to cover it?'


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

It was a comforting sound, the click-clack of the train wheels as they sped down the tracks. Rory wasn't a train aficionado or anything, but she did enjoy that sound. Since she'd moved to New York City nearly a decade ago, the sound meant homecoming. It meant soon she would be surrounded by love, and familiarity, and the always-interesting Lorelai Gilmore. Rory only ever took the train to visit Connecticut; she even avoided the subway if she could. So, trains became associated with home.

A week had passed since that terrible morning. The day where she was late, forgot her son's lunch, and was awarded her first ever major story. A week since she'd learned that the Times wanted her to right a smear piece on her ex-boyfriend and almost fiancée. There had been a time when Rory had almost considered spending the rest of her life with the man and now, she needed to dig up dirt on him, his company, and his company's business practices. That had truly been a terrible day.

On that day, Rory had called up her mom and made plans to visit Stars Hallow that weekend, the soonest she could leave New York what with Ricky in school. Finally, Friday evening arrived, and Rory and her son boarded the train to Connecticut with the crowd of business-suited men and women returning to their families after a week (or maybe even a day) of work in the city. Rory had always enjoyed watching those men and women, their air of self-importance perpetually about them. She had, for the briefest of seconds, considered moving out of the city to raise her son. Quickly, Rory had realised that the benefits of the suburbs, the yards and parks and private schools, were not enough for her to put up with spending hours on the train every day. Maybe is she wasn't a single mom, but not as her life stood then.

Rory turned to look at her son, his nose buried in a novel. It was a school assignment to read it; his teacher had put them into book club like groups where they would read a novel and then discuss their thoughts, feelings, and impressions on it. However, Rory knew that her son would probably be reading even if he didn't have to for school. Ricky, much like his mother, loved the written word. He could lose himself in a book for hours, perfectly content to live amongst the pages.

A smile crossed the brown haired woman's face. She couldn't think of missing a minute of Ricky's life on the train, commuting to work. Living in New York City was just fine for the two of them.

"I know you're staring at me, Mom. I can feel it," Ricky mumbled from behind his book. He didn't raise his eyes, didn't even flick a glance in her direction. Rory laughed at her son.

"How can you when your eyes haven't left the pages of that book for nearly an hour?" Rory asked, still chuckling. Ricky made a 'harrumph' sound in response and slouched down further in his seat, continuing to focus on his book.

Rory took the opportunity of her son's distraction to take him in. sometimes, she couldn't believe he was hers, despite the hours of long, painful labour she'd gone through to have him. He had perpetually messy blonde hair that Rory had yet to figure out how to tame. He made it worse by continually, and absent-mindedly, running his hands through it. His eyes were the same shade of blue that she possessed, that her mom possessed. When he concentrates, his nose wrinkles in the same way Rory's does. And, when he is upset, he pouts and crosses his arms just like his father.

Rory stops her assessment of her son there, before her train of thoughts verge any closer to the dangerous territory they were heading. Ricky's father is a bit of a sore subject with Rory and she doesn't like to spend too much time thinking about him. Nonetheless, she has been finding herself doing that more and more as Ricky has grown up and started to resemble his father more and more. Rory feels a pang of jealousy as she thinks that her mom never really had to worry about this and jokingly wishes that she, too, could have had a daughter.

'Though,' she mused, the click-clacking of the tracks lulling her into an almost hypnotic like trance and allowing her mind to wander unfiltered, 'I guess I'll have to think about Ricky's dad more and more…'

* * *

Rory stood in the small hotel bathroom, staring in absolute disbelief. There was no way. This was not happening. It had to be some sort of cruel joke or something. No. her mind just could not wrap itself around the sight she was currently attempting to take in. It was like something in her mind was short-circuiting.

The small plus. Rory knew what it meant, on some deep level. However, her brain, as some sort of defense mechanism, was not allowing her to process what it meant, for her, for her career, for her future. Her whip-smart head was no longer computing.

"You've been in there for like twenty minutes already! I need to get in there and get ready for the day! Stop being so selfish! You are a baby! You don't need to spend this much time on your face! You look good as it is!" the annoyed, angry voice of her current roommate, a more senior journalist at another online newspaper, yelled. The other woman also banged loudly on the door, trying to rouse Rory from her stupor and the bathroom.

Slowly, Rory wrapped the small stick in a Kleenex and slipped it into the pocket of her jacket. She didn't really want to keep it, but she especially didn't want her nosey roommate discovering it in the trash. Their press bus was like being in high school all over again. Gossip and rumors spread like wildfire. The last thing Rory needed at the moment was a bus full of virtual strangers she'd spent the last month with, and would continue to spend the upcoming months with, gossiping about her scandal.

Finally, she opened the door to the bathroom and smiled a sheepish smile at the woman whom met her. "Sorry, couldn't find my eyeliner. It was at the very bottom of my bag." To add to her statement, Rory lifted her small makeup bag, decorated with Hello Kitty dolls that her mom had initially bought her for her trip around Asia the summer before.

Her roommate just rolled her eyes and huffed angrily before pushing passed Rory and slamming the bathroom door behind her. Rory moved further into the room and began busing herself preparing her bag for the upcoming speech Obama would be giving in about an hour's time. Slowly, the small stick still bundled in her coat pocket slipped from her mind.

It wasn't until Rory was on the bus that evening that she was reminded of it again.

She had been so busy recording the speech, writing down key terms, phrases, and promises that she would use in her story about the speech, that she hadn't had a moment to think about the stick. Then, it had been the normal whirlwind of post-campaign stop chaos. All of the journalists, print, online, and broadcast, packed up their equipment. The print and online journalists then quickly grabbed food from the backstage area and headed back onto the bus, which would follow the official campaign bus to the next city, the next stop, the next speech or photo op.

In the month or so that Rory had been following the Obama campaign, she had gotten used to quick meals on busses. She normally picked something that was easy to eat on a bumpy bus. Nothing with sauces or food that could easily fall onto her lap. Nothing with crumbs. Nothing with a strong smell. She almost had it down to a science, but that didn't mean that occasionally she made a poor choice. That particular night she'd picked a chicken wrap that she thought would keep all it's ingredients inside the whole grain tortilla. However, she hadn't noticed the large amount of ranch dressing that had been applied until it had dripped on her favourite pair of jeans.

It was as she was searching through her pockets for a napkin that her hand once again closed around the Kleenex wrapped stick and that odd, non-computing moment from what felt like another lifetime ago, rushed back. Slowly, Rory pulled out the package and unwrapped it. She laid it carefully on her lap and finally, her brain allowed her to process the information.

The little plus on the pregnancy test she'd bought at the hotel gift shop meant she was pregnant. At twenty-two she was going to become a mother. Not as scandalous as her own beginnings, but also not the ideal. Rory was just getting started. Having a kid would change her life. Would she still be able to have everything she wanted?

* * *

Slowly the memory faded, and Rory came back to the present moment, the little plus sitting across from her hunched around a book, embarrassed by her unabashed staring. She'd come so far from that moment on the 2008 Obama campaign press bus. It hadn't been easy, and it hadn't always been the path she'd thought it would take, but she was endlessly happy about her life. She wouldn't trade Ricky for anything in the world.

"Do you think Grandma will let me walk Paul Anka on my own this time?" the soft, contemplative voice of her son broke Rory from her train of thoughts.

"If you put sugar on your toes when you meet him," Rory responded, recalling the first time she had met her mother's beloved, quirky dog. She chuckled at her own little joke, but Ricky just rolled his eyes and returned to his book.

Rory continued to stare at her son and felt herself once again drifting back into the past, soothed by the trains slight sideways swaying…

* * *

For some reason, the door seemed extremely menacing. She was probably just projecting. Taking her worries and her nerves and manifesting them on a harmless door, but she still found herself frozen and unable to knock. It had been one thing when she'd discovered she was pregnant, lifechanging and monumental. But this, telling the father, would somehow make it real. There would be no going back now, Rory's subconscious spoke.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and knocked on the door. She didn't have a lot of time to waste. The campaign would only be in California for a few more days and those days would keep Rory busy. This was her only free moment and if she didn't do it now, she didn't know when she would next have the opportunity.

'And it's not really the end. I could change my mind, even after he knows. That's my right,' Rory coached herself as she felt her hand connect with the wood for a third time. She waited a few seconds before she heard plodding footsteps from behind the door. They didn't sound right, not the familiar steps she'd grown used to, but maybe California had changed the way he walked.

When the door opened and revealed a tall, beautiful woman, Rory realised why they had sounded strange. They had not been Logan's footsteps, but some woman's.

"Yes?" the woman asked, a slight hint of an accent Rory couldn't place in her tone. "Can we help you?"

'We?' Rory's subconscious asked. 'What does she mean we? Who is we?'

"I'm looking for Logan Huntzberger," Rory spoke out loud, trying to peer around the woman an into the house.

'She's probably just a friend.' Rory told herself, though she didn't believe it. Logan wasn't really the person to have female friends. Not ones this pretty, and not ones who would answer the door of his house.

"My fiancé is at work right now. Maybe try back this evening," the woman spoke, her tone cold for a reason Rory was entirely certain of. Then, before Rory could say another word, the door closed in her face and she was left stunned on the doorstep.

'Logan has a fiancée? How? We only broke up like four months ago?' Despite her questions, Rory wasn't that surprised. Of course he wouldn't have just been sitting around, pining after her. She was the one who turned him down, rejected his proposal. He had every right to move on. But now, what to do about her situation?

She was pregnant with his baby. Rory knew that if she told Logan about it, he would dump this girl and be there for her through it all but was that really what she wanted. She'd turned his proposal down because they had wanted different things in life, were on two different paths. Telling Logan about this baby would derail him from his path and force him onto hers, or even further derail her path and force her to California.

Rory looked around at the green grass and palm trees that were Logan's front yard. This was not the life that she wanted. She'd already made that decision once. So, without a second look back, Rory walked off the door step and back to her awaiting cab.

Logan didn't have to know. It would be better this way.

* * *

"So, are you going to tell me who he is?" Lorelai asked for what felt like the twelfth time since she'd walked into the kitchen five minutes ago. Rory loved being home, but her mother was getting very close to driving her crazy. She had about a week off, a rare break in the hectic campaign schedule, and she'd quickly made her way back to Stars Hallow, though now she was regretting it.

The day after she found out she was pregnant, she'd called her mother to let her know. Lorelai had been initially concerned but had quickly come around when Rory expressed her excitement, nervous though it was. Once it had been established that Rory would be keeping her baby, her mother had begun an unrelenting campaign to find out who the father was. Rory, still unsure about what she would do regarding her baby's father, had kept her mother in the dark, though it was getting harder and harder to do so. When Lorelai set her mind to something, she was unrelenting until she achieved it.

"I've been sort of dreading telling you this because I am so not that girl, except for the one time that I was, but I don't really know who he is. It was a stupid one night stand after a particularly grueling press day. I might have had too much to drink and I wasn't really thinking like myself. I feel really stupid," Rory spoke, hanging her head and avoiding her mother's eyes. She hoped her body language spoke 'shame at my actions'. In reality, it was saying that she found it incredibly hard to lie to her mom.

It had been in the cab back from Logan's place that Rory decided if she wasn't going to tell Logan about the baby, she couldn't tell anyone about Logan. It was bound to get back to him, their worlds were still fairly connected. She would have to come up with some story, some explanation that was not Logan. She'd landed on campaign trail one night stand because it negated a lot of potential questions. She wouldn't have to make up and then remember detail because she could just say she had never known them. It didn't paint her in the best light, but at least it kept her secret.

When Rory finally looked up, her mother was staring at her, a strange look in her eye. For a beat, Rory thought she wasn't buying her story. Then, Luke walked in complaining about something Taylor had done and Lorelai's attention was diverted.

* * *

Finally, the train pulled up to the Hartford station and Rory and Ricky disembarked, wheeling their small suitcases behind them. Rory watched as her son ran in front of her, excited to greet his grandmother who was waiting at the end of the station.

When Rory had first told her mom her cover story about Ricky's father, she'd been momentarily worried that Lorelai knew her too well to buy it, but it seemed to have gone over well enough. But that had been when Logan was in California, thousands of miles away and not a part of her life in any way. Now, he was apparently back in New York and the subject of Rory's career making story. Would she be able to keep her secret with him back in her life?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"You could always just move back. Lots of New Yorkers do it," Lorelai spoke, the words directed to her daughter as the younger Gilmore girl approached her mother and her son. Rory resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her mother had been trying to get her to move back to Stars Hallow, or at the very least Connecticut since November of 2008 when she no longer had to follow Barak Obama around on the campaign trail.

"I love the train, and Ricky's life is in New York. You could always move there. Lots of hotels in need of a stellar manager," Rory shot back, her tone light and playful. Her mother would no sooner move out of Stars Hallow than Rory would move back.

Lorelai ignored the comment, wrapped her arm around Rory's shoulder and began to steer the threesome out of the depopulated train station. Ricky skipped on ahead of the two, his book tucked under his arm and his rolling suitcase trailing behind him.

"What would I do with Luke? Or Michelle? Neither one of them can live without me," Lorelai finally responded as they walked up to her trusty jeep. She ended her statement with a dramatic flourish to emphasize her obvious importance.

"I'm sure Michelle would love New York. He is much better suited for it, I think." Lorelai's right-hand man had often seemed out of place in quaint, small town Stars Hallow. He was focused on the latest food trends, much more concerned with what he ate and his figure than any other person in Stars Hallow and cared about celebrities and trends. New York was definitely the place that one would readily associate with Michelle, not Stars Hallow.

"Michelle maybe, but can you picture Luke in New York. It's a none-starter. You'll just have to move here."

Rory chuckled as she pictured the grumbly, stuck-in-his-ways Luke in trendy, fast-moving New York. "How has Luke been lately? You haven't said much about him. You are still together, right?" Rory was only partly concerned. Luke and Lorelai's relationship was definitely a saga; it could fill books with their break ups and make ups, their romantic tension and romantic entanglements. However, they had spent the better part of the last decade together, moving into Lorelai's house, which they had renovated when they were engaged shortly after Rory had left.

"Luke is fine. The diner has kept him pretty busy," Lorelai responded, her tone strangely cold and clipped. Was there something going on with them? Rory would have to keep her eye open for it that weekend.

* * *

Whenever Rory visited Stars Hallow, she made sure that she carved out some time to visit her best friend, Lane. The two girls had grown up together and Rory was dead-set against them growing apart despite the fact that they no longer lived in the same small town. Thankfully, social media had come around at just the right time.

"So, you'll never guess what happened at work," Rory mused as she lay sprawled across Lane's couch. Lane was curled up on a chair across the toy-strewn room. The soft sounds of boys' playful shouts acted as a background soundtrack to the conversation, letting the two women know that their sons were still fine and getting along.

"Did Miranda finally come out and say she is threatened by your potential and has been actively keeping you down with inconsequential stories?" Lane inquired. She had met Rory's editor Miranda only once, at a New York Times staff Christmas party about four years before, but the dark-haired musician had taken an instant dislike to the brunette journalist. Lane was convinced that Miranda was keeping Rory down because she didn't think there was room for multiple women in the editor field and knew that Rory would outshine her if given the opportunity. Rory just thought Miranda didn't like her on a personal level.

"No. No such confession. Though she may have proven you wrong, because she did finally give me a major story." Rory tried to make her tone sound excited, the proper emotion for the current situation. However, she couldn't help the slight edge in her voice that came through. It was a major story; she just wasn't happy about the subject of the story.

"Well, it's about time!" Lane squealed excitedly. However, when the Korean realised her friend had not joined her excited squealing she stopped and stared worriedly at her friend. "This is a good thing, isn't it?" Lane asked, her tone concerned.

"Finally getting something above community interest is fantastic. I've felt like a mouse on a wheel these past few years. I've put in all this work, ran like crazy, and yet haven't seemed to get anywhere." Lane gave the brunette a look at her statement, clearly intending Rory to interpret it as Lane proclaiming her correctness at Miranda's fear of Rory. The young Gilmore simply pushed on. "It's nice that my work is finally being appreciated. It's just the subject of this piece that I'm not thrilled about."

Rory paused. She had to be careful about how she proceeded. She couldn't give too much away, explain the real reason she didn't want to write a story about Logan was not their past relationship, but their son. Rory had told no one who Ricky's father was. Not Logan. Not Lane. Not her mother. She couldn't afford to trip up now and reveal her deepest secret, even if it was to her best friend.

Lane leaned in closer, a fish on the line as Rory slowly unwound her story. "What's the piece about?" Lane asked when Rory was quiet for a moment too long. Rory took a deep breath and carefully forged on.

"They want me to write about Logan Huntzberger and his new company. Apparently, there might be some shady and possibly even illegal business practices happening." Rory hoped that by not saying any more, Lane would interpret Rory's hesitance and not make Rory spell out why writing a story about Logan took some of the thrill off of her first major story.

For her part, Lane made a pained face and let out a whistling breath of air. "You're going to have to investigate your ex-boyfriend? The boy who was almost your fiancé and husband? That's going to be awkward. Do you think you'll have to interview him? I don't think it will matter though. Once your story comes out, he will definitely reach out. Well, I'm here for whatever you need."

Rory smiled warmly at her friend. Lane had done exactly what Rory needed her to do. Her friend would stand by her through this potentially rocky time and her secret was still that. Maybe Rory could write this story, be around Logan, and have no one figure it all out. Maybe.

* * *

Rory, Ricky, and Lorelai walked down the leafy treed streets of Stars Hallow. Living in New York, Rory and Ricky were used to walking to get where they wanted to go. Rory didn't own a car and saw no point. There was always so much congestion on the streets of Manhattan that it was quicker to walk and take the subway. But walking in New York City and walking in Stars Hallow were completely different experiences. New York walking was a convenience, and a way to get where you wanted to go quicker. Stars Hallow walking was almost like a luxury and it slowed you down, made you appreciate the small town charms that overflowed from every square inch of the small Connecticut town.

Rory took in a deep inhale of fresh air, definitely not something she could do easily in New York, and turned to her son. Her mother had been trying to convince Rory to move back to Stars Hallow. Was she robbing Ricky of fresh air and outdoor space by not doing it? Was her son missing something?

Rory wondered when she would stop worrying and second-guessing all of her decisions involving her son. Ricky looked healthy and happy. He didn't really seem to notice the differences between New York walking and Stars Hallow walking. He was skipping ahead of her, his head darting quickly around just as he did when they walked in New York. To him, it didn't seem to matter where he lived. And, Rory figured, they came back to Stars Hallow frequently enough that it wasn't like he never got fresh air or outdoor spaces.

"You seem a million miles away," Lorelai's voice broke through Rory's thoughts. She turned to her mom, expecting to see a concerned look on the older Gilmore's face. Instead, her mother wasn't even looking at her, but was looking in front of the trio, a far-away look on her face. Had Lorelai spoken to Rory or had she someone unconsciously voiced an observation about herself? Rory wasn't quite sure.

"How are things with Luke?" Rory asked, figuring that changing the subject was the best course of action. Things were strange between her and her mom at that moment and that was not a normal occurrence for the mother-daughter duo.

"Things with Luke are fine," Lorelai responded robotically. She didn't even turn to look at Rory. Had Rory been so lost in her own thoughts, about Logan, about raising Ricky, about her own problems, that she hadn't realised there was something wrong with her mom? She wanted to press Lorelai on the issue, but they had arrived at Luke's Diner, their destination. Rory felt a little strange talking about Luke behind his back in front of him. Her inquiries into her mother's life would have to wait until they were back home and Luke was still at the Diner closing things down for the night.

Luckily, Rory didn't have to wait that long to get to the bottom of her mother's strange, distant behaviour. Not seconds after they'd sat down, Luke hurried over to them. He seemed to be buzzing, a strange state for the normally deadpanned diner-owner. Rory was now extra suspicious.

"Have you told them?" Luke whispered to Lorelai, though calling it whispering might have been a bit of a stretch. Despite the sound of Caesar cooking, the other patron's eating, and the light din of conversation, Rory heard Luke's words perfectly clear.

"Told me what?" Rory asked at the same time that her mother said, "No. I was waiting for you." Rory gave her mother a suspicious look. Aside from one very big secret, the two Gilmores did not keep secrets from each other.

A ridiculously large smile broke across her mother's face, one mirrored by Luke. They both turned to Rory, trying to look serious but being far too happy and excited about their news to accomplish it.

"Would somebody tell me what is going on? You two are acting completely ridiculous. Mom, you were in another world on our way here. Luke, I don't think I've ever seen you this cheery. I'm half expecting you to break out into song and dance. Spill." Rory couldn't wait any longer.

"Well, Rory, darling, light-of-my-life, apple-of-my-eye," Lorelai began. Rory levelled her with an annoyed, exasperated look but didn't say anything. If she interrupted her mother now it would only drag things out further. "Luke and I have, after many years, many tears, and a lot of thought, decided to get married."

The word hung in the air between the two women. Rory half expected her mom to do that stereotypical fling-her-hand-down-and-show-off-her-ring move. Lorelai just continued to look at Rory, expectantly.

A smile to match Luke and Lorelai's broke across Rory's face. "That's fantastic! Isn't it Ricky! Grandma and Luke are getting married." Rory turned to her son who had his nose buried in the menu and hadn't been paying attention. Rory wasn't sure what was so enthralling about the menu Ricky had read a million times before, but her son was captivated and hadn't heard what Lorelai had just said.

With obvious effort, Ricky lifted his head. He smiled warmly at Lorelai and Luke but didn't say a word. Having done his duty, Ricky returned to the menu. Rory chuckled at her son's antics. He was a truly unique boy.

"That's not all," Lorelai said, drawing Rory's attention back to her mother and the man she considered her second father, the one who had been there for all the important parts of her life when her actual father hadn't been there. Rory saw that there were tears in her mother's eyes. Tears of happiness, Rory assumed, but she wasn't positive.

"I want you to be my maid-of-honour."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Absolutely! Of course! One hundred percent!" Rory exclaimed excitedly only seconds after her mother had spoken. "I wouldn't let anyone else. Maybe Sookie. But only if I was busy or something." Rory beamed up at her mom.

"You might have to take that up with Sookie," Lorelai responded, popping a French fry, that had arrived while she explained everything, into her mouth. At Rory's words, her mother seemed to relax. Rory wasn't sure why her mother had been so nervous about telling her daughter that she and Luke were getting married and asking Rory to be her maid of honour, but Lorelai had obviously been tensed up only moment before.

Rory understood that some children had issues when their parents got remarried, worried that the new spouse would be replacing their parent. But for Rory and Lorelai that wasn't even a passing notion. Christopher Hayden may have been Rory's biological father, but in all the ways that mattered when a little girl was growing up, Luke had been her father figure. Luke was so much more a part of her life than Christopher. Not to mention that Rory was a fully grown woman with a child of her own and not a little girl who needed her parents.

Rory smiled reassuringly at her mother, trying to convey just how excited she was about this prospect.

"So, have you started planning?" Rory asked, hoping that her show of interest would continue to reassure her mother.

"Sookie has already figured out the catering menu, but I wanted you to know before anything happened. I would have told you first except Luke proposed to me in the kitchen of the Dragon Fly while he was helping out with burger day and Sookie was standing right there when he did it." Lorelai's word vomit was accompanied by her waving around a fry, causing Rory to dodge the ketchup that was threating to go flying off of it.

'Ah. So that is why Lorelai was nervous. Rory wasn't the first person to know about the engagement.' Rory and Lorelai were unusually close; they had essentially grown up together, helped raise each other. Going through those struggles together made them closer than mother-daughter or even best friends. And, whenever Rory had news her mother was the first person, she wanted to share it with. Lorelai felt bad that this big piece of news was known by someone else before Rory.

"Well, then I guess we have a lot of work to do!" Rory commented, breezing past the fact that Sookie knew first to show her mom she didn't care about that small fact. The rest of the dinner, and the weekend was spent with the two planning, deciding, and dreaming about Lorelai and Luke's wedding.

* * *

Rory Gilmore enjoyed her weekend in Stars Hallow. But like every weekend prior, it was over earlier than she was ready for it to be. Before she knew it, Rory and Ricky were on the train back from Connecticut to New York. Unlike the train they had taken down to Stars Hallow on Friday, this train was nearly empty. The business men whom had occupied the majority of seats on the Friday afternoon train would be waiting until early on Monday to commute to work. Most of them were day-trippers. Rory had tried that one time, when Ricky was about three. It hadn't gone well. No three-year-old wants to be awoken at 4:30 am in order to make it to the city for his mother's job.

Her job. Rory sighed deeply, staring out the window at the passing country. Aside from her conversation with Lane, Rory's job had mercifully left her mind for the weekend. The news her mother had shared had driven any journalistic worries and concerns she'd had. Now, as New York City drew closer and closer, she had nothing to keep her mind from wandering back to her job, and more importantly, the article that was awaiting her.

How would she handle this? How would she write an article about Logan Huntzberger without tipping him off to her true intentions, not letting him get to close (Rory was sure that he still had the power to worm his way back into her life, if he desired to), and most importantly, not letting Logan discover that he had a son.

Rory sighed again. This time, her son was altered to her audible distress and looked up from his book. His large blue eyes, the same eyes she had and the same eyes she'd gotten from her mother, were wide with concern.

"Is something wrong, Mom? You keep sighing," Ricky asked. He searched her face, trying to discern her expression, hoping it could give him a clue. Rory carefully schooled her features, making sure that her own problems did not affect her son. Her smile may have looked a little fake to a trained observer, but her young son seemed to believe it.

"Just tired, Ricky, Planning Grandma's wedding is quite exhausting." Rory smoothed down her son's slightly unruly hair in a comforting gesture and an attempt to assuage any anxiety her son might be feeling. It seemed to work as Ricky nodded his head slightly and then returned to his book without another word.

* * *

Rory sat back in her seat and continued to watch her son. He was unnaturally observant, especially for a nine-year-old. She would have to be careful around him as she wrote this story, lest he discover the secrets she had buried down deep.

Rory sat at her small desk, the surface covered in printouts and old newspapers. She had decided that before she started her story, she would see what had already been written about Logan Huntzberger, his family, and his company. It wouldn't do Rory any good to rehash old information; people would accuse her of padding her story or being ill-informed about her own paper's previous work. However, it was a long, fairly boring job.

Having almost been a part of the Huntzberger family and dating Logan for two plus years, she already knew a significant amount about her topic of investigation. Reading stories that only confirmed her knowledge was putting Rory to sleep. Most of the pieces were puff pieces, singing the praises of the successful family, or interest pieces announcing the latest company news. There were even some more gossipy pieces about the Huntzberger's personal lives. Rory was just lucky there was nothing about her in them. Reading that would be embarrassing to the point of causing death.

"Are there any trees left in the State of New York?" a chipper voice asked, pulling Rory from the Huntzberger hole she'd been digging. Rory looked up and was met by the merry face of her closet thing to a friend in New York, Zoe.

Zoe was about the same age as Rory, maybe a few years younger. Rory hadn't asked and Zoe had never divulged that information, but Rory's journalist acumen had figured that there couldn't be more than two years between the two women. They'd started at the New York Times at about the same time; Rory in the major news section and Zoe in arts and culture.

"I'm not sure, but if I go to jail for tree murder, will you be my character witness?" Rory joked. She thought about moving some of the pages that cluttered her desk (Zoe often liked to perch on the side of the large pine surface whenever she came to chat), but Rory was worried about upsetting the very careful equilibrium she had created. One wrong move and the entire Huntzberger mountain could come tumbling down on her.

"Only if you tell me why you felt the need?" Zoe's eyes suddenly got large and shiny, making her resemble an anime character, even more than she already did with her pale skin, jet black hair, and round eyes. "Did Miranda finally take her head out of her ass? Did you finally get your own piece?"

At Rory's smile, Zoe squealed, excitedly clapped her hands together, and began crazily dancing around the newsroom, unconcerned about her fellow coworkers. Much like Lane, Zoe believed that Miranda had it out for Rory. Zoe, who had been working at the Times for the same period, had already written several long-form pieces about various arts and culture topics that were seminally important to the high-minded, artistic New Yorkers who subscribed to the Times. She believed that Rory was a better journalist and should have more articles under her belt than Zoe; so, the only logical explanation was interference by Rory's editor. Plain and simple.

"Give me the details girl! What's it about? What's the word count? What's the scoop? What's your angle?" Zoe stopped her dancing and leaned in extremely close to Rory. The brunette reporter shifted back in her seat, still not used to Zoe's lack of personal space awareness despite the number of years they'd worked together.

"I'm supposed to be writing an expose about a relatively new company, Huntzberger Enterprises. Apparently, there are rumors of shady business dealings, potential insider trading and other illegal activities. The Times wants to be the newspaper to bring the corruption and crime to light, and they've tapped me to do it."

At Rory's words, Zoe squealed again and awkwardly hugged Rory. Because Zoe was sitting on the corner of her desk, and Rory was sitting lower down in her chair, and neither women stood up, the hug was more like a shoulder squeeze. Added to that was the fact that Rory didn't, and frankly thanks to her positioning couldn't, return the hug. Zoe, however, didn't seem to notice or care.

"That is a major story, and I know you will do it justice. It will be the biggest, most talked about New York Times story of the year. Your name will be a household name like Woodstein and Brenward!"

"That's Woodward and Bernstein, Zoe," Rory commented, chuckling at the fact that, while trying to make her point about the universality about the reporters who broke the Watergate scandal Zoe had managed to mess up their names.

"Whatever! You get my point! Now, I have to get back to my important, ground breaking stories, but if you need anything from me, do not hesitate to wander over and visit. I am always up for a distraction!" With that, Zoe sauntered off, leaving Rory and her piles of research alone again.

* * *

It was a long, monotonous week of research. After Rory had completed her New York Times deep-dive, looking at what the paper had previously reported about Logan Huntzberger and everything associated with him, she began a cursory internet search. Scrolling through forums and business insider websites, Rory looked for even the slightest, most off-handed mention of impropriety on the part of Huntzberger enterprises. If there was something shady going on, people that were involved in the business world would be the first ones to talk about it.

But Rory didn't turn anything up. When people discussed Huntzberger Enterprises it was either with a sense of awe and wonder at the young business man's success, or with envy at that same success. However, even those who were envious of Logan and his business weren't slinging around insinuations of malpractice. Wherever the New York Times' higher ups had heard these rumour, if there even were rumours and not just a jealousy run amok, it wasn't in the places that Rory was looking.

She wasn't exactly an expert at exposes, of cloak and dagger reporting. The one time she'd really done anything like this, it had been back in University. While at Yale, Rory had accidently stumbled across the Life and Death Brigade, and Logan Huntzberger. She'd taken a moment to chuckle to herself that the two times she was writing her first major piece of a paper, an investigative piece at that, Logan Huntzberger was square in the middle.

Rory had done much the same thing then, while researching the Life and Death Brigade, as she'd done while researching Logan Huntzberger. She'd looked online, searched out what was already written about it. She'd uncovered suspicions while at Yale; now she was uncovering nothing.

With a frustrated sigh late on Friday afternoon, Rory pushed back from her computer. It was giving her no new information. She figured she could probably ask Miranda if she had a source or further information that she could provide Rory, a sort of jumping off point to get Rory started, but something was telling her that it was exactly what Miranda wanted. If she had a source, she would have given it to Rory if Miranda had wanted her to succeed. The fact that Rory wasn't given a source meant that Miranda wanted to Rory to fail on her own, to need to turn to Miranda so that the editor could take some, or even all, of the credit of the story.

That was not something Rory was willing to do. She would just have to figure out how to uncover this story on her own, without help from anyone at the New York Times. Aside from Zoe, who wouldn't really be much help, Rory wasn't sure she could trust any of her fellow reporters. They may end up reporting back to Miranda which would leave Rory in the same place as if she'd gone to her editor on her own.

Rory turned back to her thoughts of her time at Yale. She'd managed a story then. Maybe if she followed the same tactics, she could produce a story now. After she'd done her research, what had her next step been? She thought about it for a moment before it hit her.

She'd reached out to Logan himself, someone she was almost positive was a member of the Life and Death Brigade. She'd gotten the inside scoop, worked her way into an event, and gotten her story that way.

How could she pull of something similar here? Asking Logan was not an option. If she tipped him off to her investigation, he would close ranks or temporarily clean up his act. But she would need to get into contact with someone on the inside. A whistle blower, a source of her own.

How she would go about doing that though, was a problem for another day. It was 4:30 pm on Friday afternoon. If she didn't leave now, she would be late for her grandparents' Friday night dinner and Rory did not have the fight for that. She would have to worry about Logan again on Monday. Right then, she had Emily Gilmore to be anxious over.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Rory and Ricky sat on the train as it rattled through the New York/ Connecticut countryside. While Rory had never wanted to live in the suburbs and commute, at that moment she was wondering if she'd made the right decision. It seemed like she spent more time on the train to Connecticut than she did not on the train. Gilmore family dinners were not weekly like they had been when she was in high school and at Yale, but they were quite frequent. Almost every other Friday Rory found herself on this train with her son on her way to her grandparent's house in Hartford.

"I wonder what Grandma Gilmore will feed us tonight," Ricky mused, momentarily looking up from his book. Normally, Ricky wasn't one to start a conversation; he would participate in a conversation that was already happening, but he wouldn't volunteer a topic on his own. Rory wondered if he was picking up on her anxiety and trying to, in his own small way, calm her down.

"Probably something fantastic. You know Grandma Gilmore only ever serves the absolute best," Rory responded, smiling warmly at her son to try and reassure him. Afterall, that was her job as her mother; she was supposed to be the one calming.

"I hope it's something with chicken," Ricky mumbled, once again returning to his book, thus ending the conversation. Rory sat back in her chair, feeling accomplished for the first time in several weeks. She'd obviously done a somewhat decent job at calming her son's concern over her lack of calm.

With her motherly duties sussed for that moment, Rory turned her attention to her current biggest concern. Only a few hours ago, Rory had decided that she'd need a whistle blower in order to really dig up dirt on Logan Huntzberger and his company, especially since whatever source the Times had that had sparked the idea for this story hadn't been shared with her. However, she hadn't yet figured out how she would go about luring someone to her side and spilling the deepest, darkest secrets of Huntzberger Enterprises. But she now had several hours on the train in which to puzzle out that problem.

* * *

"So," Lorelai Gilmore spoke as she drove Rory and Ricky from the train station up to Emily and Richard's. Rory had been expecting something like this, a confession of sorts. Her mother had been shooting her furtive glances ever since she'd gotten off the train.

"Here's the thing. Luke and I haven't really been telling people about our engagement. I mean, you know, and so does Sookie, Michele, Jess, a few other people. I haven't told Richard and Emily yet though. They've already been through this with us a few times and I want to have the planning fairly under way before I tell her. That way she'll know this one is for sure and she won't be able to interfere too much in the process. So, if you could keep that to yourself." Lorelai looked at the rear view mirror, peaking at Ricky who was sitting in the backseat with his nose still in a book.

"I'm not sure he knows what's going on. He's so rarely not reading a book that he might have missed it," Rory spoke, assuring her mother.

"I just hope that this works. Emily has a way of knowing how to get at your secrets and I don't know if I can handle another Emily guilt trip when she finds out before I've told her,"

"Well, I'll make sure to distract her. My life right now is endlessly fascinating. I should be able to hold her attention for most of the evening."

Lorelai nodded, thanking her daughter, but Rory could tell that Lorelai was still worried. Rory wasn't sure if it was because she thought someone would slip up and tell Emily that Lorelai and Luke were getting married, or if it was simply because they were going to the Gilmore house and Lorelai was always nervous. Over the years of more constant contact, Lorelai had mended her relationship with her mom and dad, but it was still uneasy. Lorelai was still Lorelai and Emily was still Emily and more often than not they did not mix.

Finally, the jeep, the same jeep that Lorelai had owned since Rory was young, pulled up the long driveway of the Gilmore's stately house in Hartford Connecticut. Rory was sure she imagined it, but her mother seemed to be driving up slower than was normal. Lorelai always played a form of this game. Get to the Gilmore house as late as possible and leave it as soon as possible. The fewer hours Lorelai had to spend with her mother, the better.

Only seconds after the jeep stopped, Ricky bounced out of the car and raced towards the door. It seemed, with each passing generation, the unconditional love and admiration that Emily had grew stronger. Emily could be hypercritical of Lorelai, knit picking at the smallest things. Rory, as the granddaughter, was the apple of Emily and Richard's eye. She felt she had messed up to a far greater extent than her mother ever had, dropping out of Yale, stealing a boat and being sentenced to community service, having a baby with a guy whose name she didn't know (as she claimed), and yet Emily had never been as critical of her actions. And then Ricky could literally break everything of value in the Gilmore household; he could swear and smoke and drink and sleep around (which Rory did not see as a possibility), and Emily would still give him anything he wanted.

Ricky, his book held securely under his arm, rang the doorbell and bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited the maid to answer the door. Rory was only partially aware that Ricky's current literary selection was a classic, Russian she thought, and she was sure he was excited to discuss it with his great-grandfather. Rory felt a pang at that sight. She'd spent a lot of her youth reading books and discussing them with her grandfather; she'd tried to do the same with her son but her job, and all those pointless articles she put much more effort in than necessary in order to get noticed and get her own story, had quickly taken over what time she'd had to discuss literature with her son.

A pinched looking maid, her hair coming out slightly of her once tight chignon, answered the door. Rory cast her mother a look; a harangued maid meant that Emily was in fine form. She would have to be on her best distract Grandma game to minimize potential damage to her mother. However, Ricky, being only a child, didn't notice any of this. Without waiting to be welcomed in, without even giving the poor maid an idea of who he was and what he wanted, ten-year-old Ricky slid into the large Gilmore house and made a beeline for his Grandfather's closed office door.

The maid made to stop the young boy, but Lorelai stepped up just in time. "Hello, we're the Gilmore's. Here for our weekly dinner. I'm Lorelai, the disappointment. We know our way around and we can get our own drinks. Thanks." Lorelai deposited her coat and purse in the maid's slightly shocked hands.

Rory gave the maid an apologetic look as she copied her mother's motions and moved further into the house. She looked quickly in the direction her son had disappeared and found that he was no longer in the hallway. Richard must have invited him into his office. While Rory's grandfather had been retired from any form of work for several years, he still spent a lot of time in his office, organizing papers, reading literature, and trying to keep from being underfoot for Emily.

Assured that her son was being taken care of, Rory followed her mother into the sitting room. She wasn't sure how many times she'd trodden that path, but it had long ago become routine to begin dinner's in that room. There had even been an occasion or two where Rory and her mother had sat in the sitting room without Emily or Richard in the house.

Rory found her mother were she knew she would, hurriedly pouring herself a martini from the well-equipped bar cart. Without having to say a word, Lorelai deposited a strong smelling martini in her daughter's hand.

"You couldn't wait for the maid to make you a drink," the slightly haughty voice of Emily Gilmore sounded. Rory turned back the way she had just come to see her Grandmother making her way into the sitting room, though from which direction she had come Rory couldn't say for sure.

"The maid was busy with something else," Lorelai said casually as way of explanation before she moved around to the front of an ornate couch and took a seat, careful not to spill a drop of drink from her fairly full glass.

"How have you been, Grandma?" Rory asked, jumping in to steer the conversation away from any potential argument. Rory had long ago mastered the balancing act that was Emily and Lorelai's relationship and was pretty good at tiptoeing through their oftentimes tense interactions.

Emily's gaze flitted from her daughter to her granddaughter and her face brightened slightly. "The ladies at the DAR have decided that we need another function to raise money for our troops, even though we had one only three weeks ago. Really, they are trying to rectify that embarrassment that Constance Bitterman called a Salute to Our Troops. The ladies are worried that if that is the only event this year to help our troops that it will be a stain on the great reputation of our branch."

Emily then quickly fell down the rabbit hole of the gossip and drama of her group of well-to-do housewives. While not as dramatic as an episode of real housewives, the wealthy women of Hartford could get up to quite a lot and Emily absolutely adored filling in anyone who would listen on what was going on. To Emily, being in the know was a powerful position, and she loved to let others know about the amount of power she wielded.

Rory knew that it would be a while before they were in need of a new topic of conversation, as long as her mother could hold her judgemental, sarcastic tongue. Emily could go on about 'the ladies in the DAR' for hours. A quick glance in her mother's direction informed Rory that Lorelai was relaxing for the first time that night.

* * *

"So, Rory," Richard Gilmore asked as the five of them sat down to dinner, "how are things going at the paper. I've been waiting for your headline." Richard Gilmore, her grandfather, believed endlessly in Rory's potential. He, like Lane and her friend Zoe from the newspaper, believed that her lack of stories was a fault of the paper's and not her reporting.

"Actually," Rory began. She hadn't been planning on telling her grandparents about her story. As it stood at that moment, Rory wasn't sure if she would actually publish a story; she didn't have a lot of information despite several hours' worth of work. If she got her grandparents' hopes up and her story never came out, she wasn't sure she could handle that let down. However, if she didn't say anything, her grandparents would move on to her mother and Rory had promised to keep the conversation focused on her.

"Actually," Rory continued again, "I've finally been given my own investigative piece. I'm working on it right now. It's still pretty new; I only got assigned it about a week ago. I'll let you know when it's set to be published."

"Oh, Rory that's fantastic," Richard said.

At the same time, Emily commented, "What is it about?"

Lorelai just looked at Rory, a little shocked and hurt. In the excitement of her mother's announcement, and not wanting to talk about Logan, Rory had forgotten to tell her mother about her story.

"Yes, I'm very excited about it. Though it is proving a little difficult to unearth the information that I need. Hopefully I can find an in soon so I can start making some real progress." Rory was purposefully ignoring her grandmother's question. Emily and Richard were on fairly good terms with the Huntzbergers. If Rory told them the truth about her story, they might accidently reveal it to Mitcham, Logan's father, which would ruin the investigation. Even a lie about the story could lead to a comment about Rory looking at Logan and his company which could also end up being disastrous.

"What is your story about, Rory?" Emily asked again. She would not be deterred. Faced with the direct question; this time not clouded by any other words or comment; Rory couldn't avoid it without looking rude. She knew she couldn't tell her grandparents she was investigating illegal business practices by Logan and his company; she would have to come up with a lie that was close enough to the truth that she could get away with it when the story came out. Her grandparents would definitely read her story and if it was too far off of what she'd told them, they would be upset with her.

"I'm, um, writing about Logan Huntzberger. He's started a new company," Rory answered, keeping her explanation as vague as possible.

"Logan?" Emily asked, perking up. Of all the boyfriends Rory had ever had, Logan had been her grandparents' favourite. They had been fairly upset when Rory had turned down his proposal and not married him.

"Mmmhmm," Rory responded, shovelling in food in an attempt to not have to explain further. She was always anxious talking about Ricky's father, especially in front of Ricky. She worried that her secret would get out, even though no one but her knew it.

"Well, if you're doing a piece on him, you'll need an interview right. Have you gotten an interview yet?" Richard asked, trying to be as helpful as possible.

"I haven't. Logan and I lost touch after university. I don't really know him anymore," Rory answered as way of explanation.

"Well, your grandmother and I still see a lot of the Huntzbergers. We'll reach out to him for you. Set up an interview." Richard's comments were clearly not open for negotiation. He had decided on the course of action and that was that.

"Oh no, grandpa. That's really not necessary. I'm sure someone at the Times has a connection I can use. You don't need to do that for me," Rory spoke, she really didn't want an interview with Logan. It would be hard to keep all of her secrets from him if she was forced to sit in a small room with him. She'd been hoping to do this whole story without having to interact with the subject of it.

"Nonsense. You're family and this is what family does," Richard stated. Rory knew that no matter how profusely she protested, there would be no getting out of this. In a few days' time, Rory would have to sit down with Logan Huntzberger for the first time in ten days. She would have to ask him questions without giving away the fact that she was investigating him or, more importantly, that she had hidden the fact that he had a son from him for the past decade.

Her mother sure did owe her, Rory thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The morning of her interview, Rory Gilmore was wide awake at 4:00 am. She had never been a morning person; she felt she did her best work in the evenings and late at night. It was only vats of coffee, a habit happily inherited from her mother, that made her function before 10:00 in the morning. But on this day, Rory's subconscious had assured that she was awake before the sun. It was probably a reaction to the day a few weeks ago where she'd slept through her alarm and had to race around like a chicken with its head cut off. This was not a day she could afford to be late.

Her grandparents had used their pull to get her this interview; even though she didn't really want it. She needed to make a good impression so she wouldn't have to rely on their connections or hear about it from them if things went horrible. Her mother had once gone on a date that Emily had helped set up and, when it didn't go well, Lorelai had heard about it from Emily. Rory did not want that to happen to her. And being late would definitely get back to Emily and Richard Gilmore.

So, Rory was wide awake at 4:00 am, laying in her bed and staring up at her popcorn ceiling. She was running through her script in her head, making sure that every word she said to Logan that day was preplanned and rehearsed. It would be the first time in a decade (more than a decade? Less than a decade? Rory wasn't quite sure when the last time she spoke to Logan was) that she said a word to the young Huntzberger and, with her secret and the effect that Logan had on her, she needed to be prepared. If she knew what she was going to say, there was less of a chance of unplanned , spur-of-the-moment, potentially derailing things to happen.

Finally, at about 6:00, Rory rolled herself out of bed and began preparing. She tried not to worry too much about her wardrobe. She was a professional woman who had to dress professionally on a daily basis. She'd been to multiple interviews throughout her career of various different levels of professionalism. Rory knew how to dress herself. She would not allow the fact that she was meeting Logan deflate her sense of self. Without putting too much thought into it, she grabbed her favourite power pantsuit, a fun polka-dot blouse, and headed into the bathroom.

Rory Gilmore was a fully grown woman, dammit. Logan Huntzberger would not be her undoing.

An hour later, and thanks to Rory's stubborn confidence, Rory walked out of the bathroom, her makeup flawless and her outfit unchanged from the decision she made when she went into the shower. This, Rory thought to herself, was a good sign. This interview would be no different than the countless others she had conducted. Even if it was with her ex-boyfriend (almost fiancé) and secret father to her son.

Speaking of Ricky, the young boy was sitting at the kitchen table, a bowl of cereal in front of him. Unlike Rory, and her mother, Ricky was a morning person. More often than not, Ricky was up, breakfast made, before Rory.

"Morning Ricky," Rory called. She tried to school her voice. She was anxious, that much was extremely obvious, but she didn't want her son to know that anything was up. It would only lead to questions that Rory couldn't, or more accurately didn't want to, answer.

"You never signed my permission slip," Ricky spoke in response. He didn't look up from his cereal, which Rory knew was not interesting enough to hold his attention. What he was doing was not looking at her, a clear sign that he was upset. It didn't happen to often, that Ricky was upset with Rory, but when it did it broke her heart.

"I'm so sorry, Rick. I've had a lot on my plate. Is the trip today?" Rory cursed in her head. She'd promised to sign the permission slip weeks ago, when Ricky had brought it home and it totally slipped her mind. Her son, fortunately or in this case unfortunately, was not a pushy kid. He let you know what he needed and then waited, patiently or at least that's what Rory thought, until you accomplished it. However, with Rory's sometime scatter brain, a trait she'd inherited from her mother, things tended to get forgotten. The permission slip, for a class trip to the Bronx Zoo, was one of those things.

"It is, Mrs. Smith said that if I didn't bring in my permission slip I couldn't go and that there wasn't a place for me at school, so I'd have to stay home." Ricky still didn't look up from his breakfast and Rory's heart shattered even further. Her son, without even really trying, was the king of the guilt trip.

Then, what her son said hit her. He couldn't go to school. His class would be in the Bronx and there wasn't another spot he could go, except maybe the principal's office which Rory didn't want. He couldn't stay at home either. He was ten, which meant he technically could be left alone, but Ricky had a habit of losing himself in a book and forgetting to eat or go to the bathroom unless he was told to do so. Her only option was to bring him with her. On her interview. To Logan Huntzberger's company. To Ricky's dad's company.

"Shit!" Rory swore aloud.

* * *

She called everyone she could think of in New York. Unfortunately, all of those people worked in the same industry as she did and therefore, had the same hours. Everyone was either already at work or headed to it. No one could look after Ricky; Not on such short notice. Rory was left with only one, absolutely unperfect, choice.

Ricky would have to come along on her interview of Logan. Hopefully, she could leave him in the lobby with a book. He, much like Rory, could read for hours and not get into any trouble of any kind. Her son wouldn't really be the problem in all this.

What Rory was really worried about was Logan himself somehow meeting the boy, or someone in Logan's office noticing the potential connection between this blonde haired boy and their blonde boss.

"You should wear a hat today, Ricky. We have a bit longer of a walk than normal and it's pretty sunny out. I don't want you to get a sunburn or anything," Rory persuaded as the pair got ready to leave their apartment. She hoped that maybe masking his recognizable blonde locks would lessen the chance of anyone making the connection. Ricky just gave her a strange look.

"It's October, mom," was all he said in response before walking out of the door, hatless. Rory sighed. Just once, she thought, couldn't the universe break her way? Was that too much to ask?

* * *

Huntzberger Enterprises was housed in one of the countless high-rise, skyscraper office buildings that dominated the New York City skyline. It was not an architectural marvel, at least as far as Rory was concerned. It looked just like it's neighbours; a lot of glass, a large spacious lobby that, despite the size held only a security desk and a large bank of elevators behind a secure gate. Apparently, none of the occupants of the high rise was concerned about their guests waiting in this main lobby.

Rory and Ricky walked up to the security desk. The guard sitting behind it looked like he took his job seriously, not like the stereotypical bored guard seen on tv shows and in movies. He smiled warmly at Rory at first, a good sign for the outfit she had picked. If you looked like you belonged in the building, the security was usually nicer to you. However, as soon as the guard's eyes landed on her son, his smile faltered. It was obvious he was trying to place why she was accompanied by a small child.

"How can I help you this morning?" the guard asked once Rory was up at the desk. He still wasn't really smiling and was eyeing Ricky, obviously worried that he would start causing havoc as soon as he wasn't being watched. Rory was more than a little offended by the guard's gut reaction that her lovely, quiet, well-behaved son was a potential menace.

"I have a meeting with Mr. Huntzberger. Logan Huntzberger," Rory added the clarification because she was unsure of whether or not Mitchum, Logan's father, had a role in his company. That was something she hadn't been totally able to ascertain in her previous research. Mitchum wasn't mentioned directly in regard to the business, but his presence was very obvious in every article that Rory had read. Was this association just because Mitchem Huntzberger was such a giant in the business world or because he was a part, if not in name, of Logan's business.

"Ms. Gilmore?" the guard asked after checking his computer. Rory nodded. The guard continued to look expectantly at her, like he was expecting more information from her. It wasn't until his eyes once again flitted to her son that Rory realised the guard wasn't going to let her in to see Logan until she explained the presence of the child.

"I had to bring my son because his class is on a field trip and I didn't sign the permission slip. He won't be a bother. Will you Ricky?" Rory turned to her son who, as per usual, had his nose buried in a book. He didn't even register that Rory was talking to him. Rory turned back to the guard, daring him to challenge the fact that the quiet boy with his nose in a book would cause a problem.

At her stare, the guard seemed to relent. He handed over two visitors' passes and pushed a button that unlocked the gate that led to the elevators. "Huntzberger enterprise's is on the twenty-fifth floor."

"Thank you," Rory responded because she was rarely ever not polite. She then guided her unaware son towards the elevators. She pushed the call button and waited as one of the twelve elevators began it's slow progress towards her level. As Rory waited, a few employees of the various companies in the building joined her. Rory didn't recognize any of them, though she wasn't sure why she thought she would. It had been a decade since Rory had any interaction with anyone that worked with Logan.

Finally, the elevator arrived, and Rory ushered her son into the small box. She pushed the number 25 and waited while the other people filed in and pushed the buttons for their desired floors. No one else, it seemed would be getting out on the same floor. For some reason, this made Rory feel a little bit more at ease. She couldn't quite put her finger on why, though she didn't really spend a lot of time milling it over for very long.

When the little sign above the elevator showed 25, Rory and Ricky squeezed past the few other people still in the elevator and emerged into a swanky lobby. Huntzberger Enterprises seemed to favour an open floor plan, as the lobby wall, and almost all walls beyond it, were made of glass. It reminded Rory of the offices of the law firm in a television show she had recently been binge-watching once Ricky was asleep at night.

There must be no secrets here, Rory thought to herself. It didn't bode well for her investigation, unless they were so blasé about their potential law breaking that all of their employees were aware of what was happening.

Trying to now appear shaken by her recent train of thought, Rory walked up to the young, blonde, impossibly thin receptionist positioned behind the welcome desk. The young girl was busy clacking her long fake nails on a keyboard, though she didn't appear to be typing anything. Rory cleared her throat to get the girls' attention. Instead, she got a long finger held up in her face, telling her to wait.

Rory was a little taken aback by the attitude of the young girl, but waited somewhat patiently, nonetheless. Finally, after another twenty seconds, the girl looked up at Rory, a look of distaste and impatience clearly displayed on her flawless visage.

"I'm Rory Gilmore. I'm here for an interview with Logan Huntzberger. He should be expecting me," Rory said, her tone as high-and-mighty as she could make it. If only this young woman knew who Rory was, her utter lack of caring would instantly vanish, Rory was certain.

The young girl pushed a button on her phone, staring at Rory but not speaking. Finally, a crackly voice sounded over the phone's speakers.

"What is it Taylor?" the voice asked.

"I have a Rory Gilmore here," the young girl finally spoke, her voice high and sickly sweet.

"Send her back," was the curt reply that came from the speakers. Taylor, the young girl behind the desk then waved Rory towards a glass door.

"Mindy will be expecting you. The kid can wait on that chair." Taylor's second statement was punctuated by her pointing a long fingernail at a push chair that sat up against one of the walls of the lobby. Rory, rolling her eyes once she turned away from the girl, directed Ricky to the chair and told him to wait their until she was done. Then, she headed through the glass door and into the lion's den.

* * *

Mindy was a put together woman in her mid-thirties. She had a no-nonsense air about her that Rory instantly liked. Efficiency was something that Rory found important and Mindy didn't make Rory wait while she pretended to work like Taylor the receptionist had. From the way that Mindy directed Rory through the office, a folder clutched in her hand, Rory guessed that Mindy was Logan's personal secretary. She seemed to have all the answers about where Logan was, how much time he could devote to Rory, and why he could only give her twenty minutes. She was obviously in charge of his schedule.

After being led, at quite a fast pace, through the maze of glass=walled offices, Mindy finally deposited Rory in front of the one office that was constructed with opaque walls. A small plaque on the door read L. Huntzberger, CEO. Finally, Rory was outside Logan's office. Mindy knocked importantly, then pushed the door open and motioned for Rory to enter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Rory took a breath and then walked through the door. The office was empty except for a large wooden desk placed in the middle of the room. There wasn't art on the walls, only a few certificates and some newspaper clippings, a few Rory noticed were Time's pieces. There was a pair of plush chairs facing the desk, where those who were having meetings would sit. Otherwise, there was no other furniture of décor of any kind. Apparently, Logan didn't see the need for excess, which was not the Logan Rory had known.

She was nervous before, but now she was absolutely petrified. She had planned for this interview with the Logan Huntzberger she had known and loved over a decade ago. But that Logan would have filled the office with pointless crap to display his wealth. The Logan she had known was a peacock; he'd owned a suit of armour for heaven's sake. But this Logan had absolutely nothing of excess. The only thing that seemed a little bit like the Logan she had known were the framed articles.

"Rory, glad to see you," Logan spoke, smiling up at her. He then stood from his desk and greeted her further with an awkward hug. Rory wasn't quite sure how to reciprocate, so she just stood in the hug. However, Logan didn't seem to notice and, when he released her, smiled warmly at her.

"I have to say," Logan spoke walking back around to his desk, "I was quite surprised when I got the call from Richard asking to schedule an interview with you. You could have reached out to me on your own."

Rory took her seat in one of the plush chairs and busied herself by taking out her notebook, pens, and recorder. She smiled warmly at Logan, trying not to take offense to the implied notion that she didn't contact him because she either still had feelings for him, or she was too worried about their past relationship and what it meant to reach out to him.

"Yes, well, my grandfather got a little over-zealous when I mentioned that I was doing a story on you. I was still doing research, trying to figure out my angle, how I would go about the story. There are already a lot of very similar stories about you and your new company floating around and I didn't want my article to be the same as all of those. Once I'd figured out my story, I was going to reach out to you," Rory explained. She didn't want to be on the defensive, explaining herself to him, instead of being in charge. However, if she didn't address this unspoken assumption out front, that he still had some hold over her, she wouldn't be able to ask the questions she'd prepared.

In response, all Logan did was continue his small, knowing smile, and lean back into his chair. "Well, let's get this over with," Logan spoke, motioning to the notebook and recorder in Rory's lap.

Wanting nothing more than to do just that, Rory opened her notebook to her list of questions. She'd tried to craft questions that seemed innocuous, run-of-the-mill puff-piece sort of questions but that would mean backing Logan into a corner when she found out the true dealings of his company. If she got him on the record now lying about his business, he couldn't back down later.

"So, what was the initial spark for Huntzberger Enterprises?" Rory began, her first question a soft-ball to try and put him at ease. Logan leaned forward in his chair and smirked at Rory. It was the smirk she had seen a million times before, every time he had flirted with her. Seeing it now, when she was in the middle of investigating him, was a little jarring but she tried not to let it affect her.

"That's a little soft, Ace? Where's the hard hitting questions. Don't hold back; I can take them," Logan spoke, his smirk still on his face. It combined with the nickname, one she hadn't heard in years, and nearly sent her head spinning. It was already hard enough, being this close to him after so many years. She had almost considered marrying him at one point; they had a child together (even if no one knew that fact). There were definitely still feelings between them, even if Rory had told herself there weren't, and being in his presence, while he flirted with her, was bringing them bubbling up to the surface.

"You didn't answer my question, Logan. There are many business ideas and companies out there, what made your online platform speak to you?" Rory wouldn't be deterred by Logan's flirting, or his evasive answers. Rory needed some intel, needed to know if there were people that she could exploit or if Logan would inadvertently give up some information she could use in her investigation.

"Online is the place to be; it was a burgeoning market with a lot of spinoff potential. The business had a sound growth plan and a fairly large presence, so I invested in it and, after some time, became the CEO. That was the cornerstone that led me to other business and the rest, as they say, is history."

"And where do you see the business going, in say ten years? You've had such a meteoric rise; do you think that growth is sustainable?" Rory couched her real question in a slightly unsubstantial question. Business growth was a run-of-the-mill question, but depending on how Logan answered the second question, how he would sustain his growth, Rory could gain some insights into his business practices and the potential legality of them.

"I have great people around me with a sound ear for business. They can track trends and know when an idea or business will be profitable. Some people think it's just blind luck but, the amount of times I've gotten lucky makes it seem more like they have an intuition about these things. So, as long as I keep my people happy, and they keep doing what they do so well, I'm sure we'll be able to sustain our growth." Rory made note of his words, sure that they meant that he had people giving him insider knowledge or the like.

In the gap that passed while Rory scratched out a few notes and decided on her next question, Logan sat back and eyed Rory. His smirk, which seemed ever present slipped slightly as he watched her, slightly hunched over, working hard on her interview. He felt a strange feeling, one he'd spent years trying to repress. In this vein, Logan took the opportunity to ask Rory a question, maybe catch her off guard and keep his strange feeling at bay.

"Where do you see yourself in ten years?" he asked coyly. Rory was surprised. She was the interviewer, the one who wanted answers to her questions, not Logan. Also, she had no idea where such a question had come from. Why would he want to know that?

"I haven't really thought about that question too much…" Rory answered hesitantly. She felt on edge, wondering where Logan was going with the conversation. "Anyway," Rory continued, trying to regain control of the conversation. Adlibbing around Logan would not end well for Rory.

"Because I've done some research on you," Logan responded, lifting his eyebrows suggestively. "Very career oriented. Do you want to be editor of the Times? I remember the ambitious girl who took over the Yale Daily News back in school. Do you remember?"

Was Logan trying to derail this interview? He was bringing up her past, their past, and obviously trying to see how Rory would react. She was a little flustered, though tried not to let Logan see it. She flipped through her questions, trying to find the next one she wanted to ask.

"Alright, how is it that a business so new as yours has been so successful? Did you have help from your father?" Rory asked. She hadn't wanted to ask that question, especially not so early into the interview; it was an accusation, that he couldn't be successful on his own, but Rory also needed to regain control of the conversation, to put Logan on unsure footing while she once again found hers.

Logan's smile faltered for only a fraction of a second before his cocky, flirtatious smirk returned. "I can assure you; I can handle things on my own." The tone of Logan's voice suggested that he wasn't just talking about business.

Rory sighed deeply, hoping that she would be able to maintain her control of the interview and get the background information that she needed in order to figure out how to go about her investigation. Though, judging by how the first fifteen minutes had gone, that task would be easier said than done.

"What's your biggest regret?" Rory asked. They'd been at it for almost an hour at that point, Rory's tense interview of Logan. He kept trying to derail her, flirting with her, making suggestive comments, and trying to bring up her past. Rory had been forced to resort to short questions that allowed Logan to talk. If she ignored all the rest of his words and allowed him to go on about himself and his business for as long as he could, she found that she was actually able to glean small amounts of information. Logan seemed so focused on the flirting, the suggestive comments, and the recollections, that he wasn't been as careful as he should with the brief snippets about his business.

The question Rory had asked was meant to be another such question, another opportunity for her to provide Logan with the rope to hang himself. However, as soon as she asked it, Logan's demeanour changed. His previously playful, lackadaisical act vanished and was replaced with a serious, piercing look. Rory felt her breath catch in her throat at the look.

"I think you know what my biggest regret is Rory," Logan spoke, his tone low and husky. Questions raced around Rory's mind, but before she could focus on one and try to vocalize it, a small voice at the door broke the strange tension in the room.

"Mom are you almost done?" the soft, slightly sleepy voice of Ricky asked. Rory's posture instantly went ramrod straight. She was in protective mode. Her difficult interview with Logan had driven this fear from her mind, the fear that Ricky and Logan would meet. She had been so careful before to keep them apart, but she'd forgotten all about her son as she dealt with Logan.

"Yes. I'm done. Thanks for your time, Logan," Rory asked, jumping up and ushering her son out of the room. She figured that Ricky had been in Logan's office for all of twenty seconds. Hopefully a short enough time to not register in Logan's mind. She was also banking on her rushed exit being written off as a reaction to Logan's behaviour and words around her last question. The tension, and his strange response, were definitely factors in her departure.

"Are you okay Mom?" Ricky asked as the pair quickly made their way out of the twisting hallways of Logan's offices and towards the bank of elevators. Rory looked flustered. She'd left the office so quickly that she still had her interview tools, a pencil, pad of paper and recording device, still in her hands. She was frantically shoving them into her large back and walking at a faster pace than was her normal.

"I'm fine, Ricky. Just, you know, want to get out of here." She gave her son a look that she hope conveyed the correct message. That being Rory's dislike of being around the entitled, stuck-up set that were associated with her grandparents' circles. Rory hoped that Ricky would draw the conclusion that Logan was one of those people because it had been Richard and Emily who had set up the interview. Anything other than that interpretation would mean a too long explanation that Rory definitely didn't have time for at the moment.

Ricky shrugged, buying her explanation, or at least choosing not to question his mother further, and continued along the hallway at the same rapid pace. Rory sighed in relief, as the thought 'out' repeated itself over and over in her mind.

She was only a few steps from that, a mere ten feet from the elevators, when her shouted name froze her in her tracks.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Rory!" Logan shouted from the small lobby of Huntzberger Enterprises. Rory took a split second to calculate if she could make it to the elevator without causing a scene or burning any bridges. Determining that it wasn't a feasible option, Rory slowly turned back towards Logan. She hid her son behind her legs, obscuring Logan's view of the boy.

"What is it Logan? As you can see, I have to leave," Rory motioned towards the elevators and not her son to indicate her need to depart. She was worried that Logan, in the brief amount of time Ricky had been in his presence, had figured out her secret. She didn't want to draw any more attention to the boy in that moment on the rare chance that he was still oblivious.

"I just thought, since we had such an enjoyable time, that maybe you'd like to go out to dinner with me?" Logan asked. Rory froze, shocked at the words that she had just heard. Had he seriously just asked her out? They hadn't seen each other in over a decade and yet, after spending only the briefest amounts of time together, Logan thought he would be successful asking her out.

She knew, for a fact, that she didn't do anything to lead Logan on. She'd been very careful about her actions, words, and interactions. It had been a part of her defense mechanism; she didn't want to do anything to increase his interest in her. And yet, here they were.

"I- you- what?" Rory stuttered, still not quite processing what was happening around her. Logan didn't respond to her strained statements. Instead, he simply stood in the lobby of his company's office, hands in his pockets.

Then, almost as suddenly as if someone had flipped a switch, Rory's mental faculties returned. She had been looking at Logan, slack-jawed, when she'd remembered her son, hidden behind her. She couldn't afford to stand there, in front of him much longer or surely, he would start looking at Ricky. That would simply compound this moment and make it one of the worst she'd experienced.

"Look Logan," Rory spoke, her confident demeanour quickly returning, "I really don't have time to date anyone right now, really busy with work and helping to plan my mom's wedding and all." Just as she finished her statement, the elevator pinged its arrival and the doors slide open. Rory hurriedly ushered her son into the box before turning to press the lobby button. As she did, Rory saw that Logan was still standing in his lobby looking cocky, his eyebrow raised in a suggestive manor.

Rory sighed in relief as the doors slide shut. She and Ricky were safe, at last.

"Are you okay, Mom?" Ricky asked, having obviously picked up his mom's heightened emotional state moments earlier. Rory smiled down reassuringly at her son.

"Fine, Ricky. I just wasn't expecting Logan to ask me on a date is all," she responded.

"Who was he, mom? How do Grandma and Grandpa know him?" he looked up at her with large, curious eyes and Rory felt her throat go dry. She'd been so worried about Logan noticing Ricky that she hadn't thought about it happening the other way around. While Ricky's curiosity steamed from her grandparent's reactions at dinner a few days previous and the interaction he just witnessed, he'd still managed to ask the one question she had been dreading.

Rory had gotten lucky in the past ten years. Ricky hadn't seemed all that concerned about who his father was; he hadn't asked questions or made up stories about his absence. Rory suspected it had something to do with her relationship, or more accurately lack thereof, with her father. Ricky was just used to his family being strong single mothers raising curious, independent children. Fathers were not an important part of their lives.

Yet Rory had always been worried, especially when Ricky started school and began encountering children with two parents, that his curiosity would be sparked, and he would start asking questions Rory didn't want to answer. She'd dodged that bullet throughout almost six years of schooling only to be felled by her job.

"Logan was an old friend. His parents know Grandma and Grandpa very well. The Huntzbergers live in Hartford too, and Logan and I went to Yale together," Rory explained. She hoped it would be enough to quell her son's curiosity. None of what she said was a lie, and she never wanted to lie to her son, but it wasn't exactly the truth. There was a lot more that Rory had conveniently left out, like the extent of her relationships with all of the various Huntzbergers. But that hadn't been what Ricky was asking about. He just wanted to know why Logan was so friendly with his mother; old college friends should be enough to satisfy him.

Ricky was quiet the rest of the ride down to the library, leaving Rory to believe that he was satisfied. She let out another relieved sigh. The hits today just kept on coming and she couldn't seem to get a break before the next blow was delivered. It was only just noon and she was already planning to spend the rest of the day at home with Ricky, lounging in her pyjamas. That was about all she could manage at that present moment.

Rory and Ricky quickly hurried across the lobby, waving a thankful goodbye at the security guard at the desk before exiting out to the street. Rory, with the expertise of a decade's long New Yorker, raised her hand to hail the cab that was speeding their way. It pulled to the curb right in front of her and Rory opened the door to allow Ricky to slip in. Normally they would have walked home or taken the subway, but Rory wanted to get away from Logan, Huntzberger Enterprises, and the day as quickly as she could.

"Rory!" Logan's crisp, commanding voice called out. Against her better judgement, and own will it seemed, Rory turned away from the cab and towards the sound of Logan's voice. "If you're too busy right now, maybe we can arrange something for later. You know, after you've submitted your paper and your mother and Luke have gotten married. I don't mind waiting."

Rory couldn't believe Logan's audacity. She'd forgotten that he didn't take a 'no' answer very well. This was the boy after all who had stalked her with a coffee cart after they'd broken up. As the memory floated through her mind, she almost gave in. Maybe a date with Logan would be nice. He'd always known how to treat a girl right and Rory could do for some pampering.

Then she remembered why she needed pampering, why she was currently feeling terribly stressed. It was Logan, and his finding out about his son; the son Rory hadn't told Logan about because he'd gotten engaged to another woman only months after he'd been rejected by Rory. She distinctly remembered reading Logan's wedding announcement, both at the time it had happened and early the week before when she'd been doing her research.

"I am busy Logan, for the foreseeable future. But even if I weren't, I wouldn't go out with a married man. And I'm sure your wife wouldn't want you to be asking out other women." Rory then slipped into the cab before Logan could say anything else. The driver of the cab was irritated that she'd held him up with her conversation, but Rory barely registered his displeasure. That last hit had dazed Rory. She wasn't thinking straight. In fact, she wasn't really thinking at all.

"Eh, lady! Where to?" the cabby snapped.

"Grand Central," Rory responded, the words slipping out of her mouth before she was even aware of them. Having a destination, the cabby turned back to the road and quickly merged into the oncoming traffic.

"Why are we going to Grand Central, Mom?" Ricky asked, his tone confused. "Where are we going?"

"Home," Rory responded, only further confusing her son. But she didn't care. She was in shock, overcome with too many jolts to her system. She needed her mom and she needed her mom right now.

* * *

It wasn't until Rory and Ricky were sitting on the train headed to Connecticut before Rory realised, she should probably give Lorelai a heads up. It would be quite the surprise for her mother to come home from the inn and have her daughter and grandson waiting on the couch. Lorelai would never turn them away, even if her house was destroyed in a fire or tornado or something, but she would probably appreciate some heads up to tidy the house a little.

"Is something wrong?" Lorelai asked as soon as Rory had relayed her imminent arrival to her mother. Rory's eyes flitted to her son, who was looking out the window at the scenery that was whizzing by. She didn't really want to talk about her romantic or employment woes in front of her son.

"I'll tell you tonight over pizza and ice cream," Rory answered. She knew it wouldn't stop her mother from asking extremely invasive questions when they saw each other, but it satisfied her for the moment.

With that task checked off her list, Rory sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. She was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep almost as soon as her eyelashes brushed her cheeks. The day had been too much and she needed to disengage, even if it was for only a few hours.

* * *

"So, are you ready to tell me what sent you my way last minute in the middle of the week?" Lorelai asked. Rory was quite impressed that her mother had lasted as long as she did before asking Rory. She and Ricky had been at her mother's house for all of thirty minutes and Ricky had only just settled himself on the front porch with his homework, that he had thoughtfully packed before heading out to 'work' with his mom that morning. Rory chuckled slightly at her mom. She wrapped her hands around the fresh brewed cup of coffee and sat beside her mother at the beat up, much-loved-but-rarely-used, kitchen table.

"Well, I had my interview with Logan today. I was really worried that he would derail it, that he would somehow drag me off my train of thought, but we got through the questions that I had without too much pain. Then, at the end of the interview, as Ricky and I are trying to leave he asked me out. Like out of the blue; I hadn't done anything to make him think I would be interested in such a thing.

"And then he accosted me on the street as we were getting a cab. I had to remind him about his wife before he would let me leave. I was just so out of sorts that all I could think of was coming here and being with my mom.

"Sorry if I interrupted your plans," Rory added as an afterthought. Her child had almost derailed her interview with Logan today; she didn't want to do the same thing to her mom.

Lorelai waved her hand in a non-committal way. "I was just going to see Luke for dinner tonight. At the diner, no big deal." Lorelai added her comment about the diner after Rory had felt her features slip into a mask of regret. She was sorry that she'd potentially ruined an evening with her mother and her fiancé, even if they lived together and saw each other every day.

"In fact, we can still do that because I don't have any food in the house and my prep crew is otherwise occupied," Lorelai commented, standing up from the table. Rory chuckled at her mom before she went to retrieve her son and leave for the comfortable, familiar food at Luke's.

* * *

The threesome chatted amicably, mostly about details of Lorelai and Luke's upcoming nuptials. They were just in a middle of a discussion about the colour scheme when Rory's phone began to chirp. She quickly went through her mental checklist of people who could be calling and just hoped that it wasn't Miranda demanding to know why Rory had only booked off the morning for an interview but then proceeded to not show up at all.

She was too worried to remember to check her caller id, and simply pressed the accept button. "Hello?"

"Is this Ms. Gilmore? The reporter?" a hushed voice asked. Rory was relieved that the caller wasn't Miranda, but she still didn't relax. Hushed speech was quite unsettling, even if it was something that had happened before in her line as a reporter. Rory was pretty sure this was someone calling in a tip who felt guilty about betraying trust, but she wasn't about to drop her guard.

"Who is calling?" she asked, not answering the caller's question and confirming her identify.

"My name is Olivia. I work at Huntzberger Enterprises," the caller responded, her voice becoming slightly shaky. This caller was obviously incredibly nervous about this interaction.

"This is Rory Gilmore. What can I do for you?"

"I have some information. I can't share it over the phone. Can we meet? Tomorrow at the Starbucks on Delancey St? I'll tell you everything then."

"Absolutely," Rory responded, trying to keep her voice level. This was what she had needed, what she'd been waiting for. This was a source, inside the company, willing to spill their closely guarded secrets. She didn't want to appear to eager and put off the source, or worse, make the source think that their information was as valuable as it actually was.

Rory took a quick glance and realised that, while she had stopped walking to take the call, her mother and son had continued on to Luke's. at that moment, they were just entering the front door. If Rory wasn't quick, her mother might order her food which, depending on Lorelai's mood, could be an excellent thing or a truly disgusting thing. Rory quickly confirmed details with Olivia, though she was sure that wasn't her real name, then hung up the phone and hurried towards Luke's.

Slightly out of breath, she really needed to find more time to work out, Rory entered Luke's. she found her mother and son at a fairly large table in the middle of the restaurant. However, they weren't alone as Rory had been suspecting. Instead, they were joined by a dark, somewhat shaggy haired male. He looked vaguely familiar, but Rory couldn't place him just by the back of his head which was the only thing that Rory could currently see.

Hopefully, she thought to herself as she walked towards her family, this wouldn't be another hit. Her psyche couldn't take it.

"Rory, so glad you could finally join us!" Lorelai jokingly called out, causing the somewhat familiar man to turn.

"Hey Rory," he said, his voice deep and velvety like she'd remembered it.

"Hey Jess."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Rory stood rooted in place. The day had already surprised her with her son not being able to go to school on account of a forgotten permission slip, a very near meeting of her son and his father, two date invitations from her married ex that she hadn't seen in approximately a decade, and now she was faced with yet another ex. She needed a minute to process this latest jolt to her system. Trying to buy herself some time, Rory smiled at Jess, as well as the others at the table, and took one of the two remaining empty seat.

Her relationship with Jess was in a better place than her relationship with Logan. In the years since high school, they'd met several times in casual settings. There was his book launch, his publishing company's grand opening, a chance encounter at an author meet and greet that Rory was covering and Jess was publishing, as well as a few other random run-ins in New York. Jess was still based in Philadelphia, so they didn't see each other very often, but they were definitely friendly.

It was just that seeing Jess in Stars Hallow, a wholly unexpected locale, after the day that she'd had that was overwhelming. Her brain, her emotions, her senses: all of them had been overloaded and ceased their ability to function.

"Rory?" Lorelai asked, her voice concerned. It filtered through Rory's haze and mental shut down and drew the brunette back to the moment. "Are you okay? You look a little spaced out."

Rory took a moment to smile apologetically at Jess and her mom before she answered. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting to see you today Jess and it's been quite a tiring day. I think I was in shock there for a minute."

"My arrival was sort of last minute. Luke called me up yesterday and asked if I could come up. Said he had something important he wanted to talk with me, and he sounded a little out-of-sorts, so I drove up last night. Turns out he just wanted to let me know that he and your mom were getting married and he wanted to ask me to be his best man.

"If I'd known you were going to be here, I would have reached out." Jess tried to look sheepish, but his response came out as more of a playful jab.

Rory was the one who ended up feeling sheepish. She'd had so many unexpected moments on that day that she hadn't been very tactful when she'd spoken to Jess. She hadn't meant to imply that he needed to contact her before coming to Stars Hallow; it was just as much his home as hers. She hadn't meant to imply that he wasn't allowed to come and visit. She just hadn't been expecting to see him, and then when she did on a day when so many unforeseen things happened, she hadn't handled it well at all.

"I'm sorry," Rory said collapsing into her seat. "I've just had a really terrible day. It seems the universe decided when I woke up this morning that it would overwhelm me with surprises, a lot of them unwanted, and then seeing you, which is definitely a pleasant surprise, just put me over the edge."

"Maybe we should get some food in you before we talk further," Jess responded, apparently not upset at Rory. She smiled warmly at him; she definitely didn't need someone to judge her moment of weakness and, as she watched Jess try and wave over his uncle, she was reminded that Jess so rarely judged her. The few times she could remember, she had been acting like an idiot, like when she dropped out of Yale. It was one of the things she liked about Jess.

"Rory!" Luke called as he responded to Jess' entreaties and walked over to their table. "I wasn't expecting to see you today!" He smiled warmly at her and Ricky before turning to Lorelai, his smile slipping slightly. "Was I?" he asked her mom, obviously suddenly worried that he'd someone forgotten Rory's middle of the week visit.

"No, Rory's visit was quite the surprise. She had her interview with Logan Huntzberger today and he acted in typical Logan fashion and Rory needed some comfort from her mother." Rory was watching Jess as her mother answered Luke's question. At the mention of Logan, one of the two boyfriends that Rory had that Jess harboured an intense dislike for, the dark haired male stiffened slightly. However, he had no other outward reaction. Rory mused momentarily over the fact that her get-together with Logan, and his less than gentlemanly treatment of her, still made Jess feel tense.

"Well, it's nice to see you, no matter the circumstances that brought us all together. Now, what does everyone want to eat?" Luke took out his order pad and began writing down everyone's requests. The familiarity of it, sitting in Luke's with her mother, began to relax Rory. This was her happy place, where she felt the most like herself, the most comfortable. Even the surprise of Jess began to spread a blissful feeling through her, where there had once been tension and aggravation. Jess belonged here, in Star's Hallow, at Luke's. He quickly became a part of the comfort.

Unable to help herself, Rory smiled up at Jess, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks. She wasn't sure why she reacted that way, but she wasn't upset at it.

* * *

Dinner, as always, was delicious. New York was known for its food scene, for the amount of options, both unique and traditional, that one could eat. However, no matter where Rory went to eat in the city, she never seemed to find a burger quite as good as Luke's. if she was gone too long from Stars Hallow, she found herself craving them, and she could only satisfy it by hoping on a train and heading down to the diner.

"Well," Luke said, breaking Rory from her food-induced revere. He pushed back his chair and began collecting the plates and cups. It seemed, Rory mused, that Luke was never not a restaurateur; he was always making sure they had full drinks and that their table was cleaned almost as soon as they were done. Even though they were family, whenever Luke was at the diner, he was diner owner and not Lorelai's fiancé.

"I'll help," Lorelai said, jumping up and gathering the remaining dishes. Rory gave her mom a skeptical look; Lorelai was not domestic. So, seeing her voluntarily help clean up was a very strange sight.

"I don't know when the last time I saw you clean up dishes was," Rory said, continuing to stare skeptically at her mom.

"If I help, it gets done quicker," Lorelai responded. She lifted her eyebrows in a suggestive manor that Rory quickly interpreted to mean Lorelai wanted some 'alone time' with Luke. Feeling thankful that she had been taken in at the last moment by her mother, Rory decided to provide her with even more alone time.

"Shall we head home?" Rory asked her son. In response, Ricky pouted a little.

"I don't want to go to bed yet. I'm not tired," he responded. Rory hadn't meant that he should go to bed, they still had a train ride back to the city before Ricky would have to go to bed.

"You don't have to. We still need-" Rory began to explain before her son cut her off.

"I want to go see a movie! You always promise to take me to a movie here and we never go! I want to go to one now," he stated, his tone bordering on whiny, but not quite crossing that line. Rory sighed. She turned to try and find her mom, hoping she had some sage wisdom about how to handle a stubborn ten-year-old. However, she was only met with Jess, smiling ruefully at her young son.

It had been a nice surprise after all, seeing Jess. They'd had a more than pleasant conversation during dinner, reminiscing about their teenaged days and some of the trouble they'd gotten in to. And Jess had even listened, enraptured (though he was most likely faking), as Ricky regaled him with the plot of the novel he had just finished. Rory felt her heart melt as she watched him paying her young son so much attention and she found that she didn't want to leave Jess in that moment.

If she went through with her plan, to get Ricky onto the train that night, it would mean saying goodbye to Jess right then and there. However, if she caved and took Ricky to the Read and White Movie Theater, she could stretch out her time by a few hours. There was always the first train in the morning, that would be filled with all the commuting businessmen, that would get her and Ricky back to the city in time to get him to school. Her son would be overtired and not in the best of moods when she dropped him, but that was for his teacher to deal with.

"I guess we could go see a movie, but that would mean an early train tomorrow. Are you going to be able to get up extra early tomorrow so we can make it back into the city before school starts?" Rory asked, putting the real decision on her son. That, she thought to herself, was a parenting win. This way, when her son complained about it being early tomorrow, she could just put it back on him.

"I can sleep on the train," Ricky said diplomatically. He then stood, eager to go see his movie.

"Alright then," Rory responded. She too stood, and then turned to Jess. She was going to invite him to join them, but she couldn't quite figure out the words to ask him to tag along with her and her son as they went to a movie.

"I should probably be going," Jess spoke. He then turned to the kitchen, ready to yell out his goodbye to his Uncle Luke. Rory felt crestfallen. She'd missed her opportunity to expand her time with Jess.

"You should come too," a small voice spoke, stunning both the adults. Rory and Jess, almost in unison, turned to look at Ricky. He was standing by the door, handing off the handle as he waited for the slow moving adults to get a move on.

"Oh-uh, I don't know…" Jess said.

At the same time, maybe a little too emphatically, Rory said, "You should!"

Both Rory and Jess looked down at the ground sheepishly. Ricky rolled his eyes at his mother's strange, and delaying, behaviour.

"Well, if it's two against one," Jess responded, though he didn't sound upset at the prospect of having to go to the movie. Rory smiled a Jess. She then felt a tugging at her sleeve and turned to see her rather exasperated son trying to pull her out the door.

"Now that that's settled, can we go please!" Ricky asked, his tone several octaves higher than normal as he began to whine. Rory shot her son a look that told him to stop his behaviour, which he did and proceeded to look sheepish.

"Okay, let's go see what movie is playing!" Jess spoke, trying to break the mounting tension between mother and son.

* * *

Rory wasn't sure what movie was playing. It was some early Hollywood, black and white rom com. The acting was a little strained and the dialogue was definitely not natural. However, Ricky was absolutely enthralled, and Rory counted that as a success.

Ricky was sitting, his legs swinging, on the couch in between Rory and Jess. Rory had sat on that very couch many a time before, a few even with Ricky, and quite a few with Jess. And yet, this time seemed different. It wasn't the movie; Rory was barely paying attention to it, but even if she had been watching the movie, she definitely wouldn't be feeling this strange romantic tension because of it.

The air around her seemed electric. It seemed to spark and fizzle every time she moved. She also felt a pull off to her right, and she knew it wasn't coming from Ricky. Could there, Rory wondered, sneaking covert glances at Jess, still be feelings on her part? Were there feelings on his? She sat back and tried to focus on the movie, ignoring her thoughts about Jess and all the things she wanted to do with him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

After what Rory was affectionately calling the day from hell, her life began to settle down. She didn't have any more surprises; nothing popped up to try and derail her day. If she thought about it too much, she was sure that she'd start to have panic attacks from the simplicity and normalcy that her life had become. However, the simplicity and normalcy was also accompanied by a lot of work and tasks to do.

That, and if she was being honest, her thoughts were too consumed to worry. Ever since that romantic, electric hour and a half she spent sitting next to Jess in the movie theater, she couldn't seem to stop thinking about Jess. Nothing had happened between them; her ten-year-old son sitting in between them made sure of that. They hadn't even really said a word to each other during the movie. Ricky hated it when people talked during movies, even if it was a movie he'd seen a dozen times before. Yet, despite nothing but an electric feeling, Rory seemed utterly captivated by Jess.

_Questions for Olivia_

Rory stared at the words she had written on her computer, trying to force her thoughts off of the Jess train and onto the work train. Other things had happened the day she and Ricky went to a movie with Jess, things that were very meaningful for her investigation. Olivia, a mysterious employee at Huntzberger Enterprises had called her up, willing to meet and potentially reveal the companies wrong-doings.

Rory had met her at their appointed Starbucks and Olivia had revealed that she had knowledge and information about insider training and misreporting of the company's financial information. Rory wasn't able to get Olivia to talk any specifics; it had taken her almost an hour to get the other woman to open up to her enough to admit that those things had happened. Rory found it a little frustrating, considering Olivia was the one who had initially reached out to Rory, and now she seemed skittish and unwilling to talk.

Rory had walked away from that meeting having confirmation that her story wasn't pointless, but not having any details about what was happening, who was involved, and what the possible implications would be. Since then, she'd been trying to nail down Olivia for another, more substantive meeting, but the other woman seemed to be dodging her calls. However, Rory was nothing if not persistent.

Now, she was trying to come up with questions, ones that weren't too prying but would provide her with the information she needed. She figured that if she had a plan the next time, she met with her potential informant Olivia, it might be easier to get her to open up and tell the tale she obviously wanted to.

However, Rory was struggling. Every time she went to type up a question she wanted to ask Olivia, her mind would slide back to her thoughts about Jess. No matter how hard she tried to wrangle them, she just couldn't seem to focus on the important task at hand.

Deciding that staring at her computer with her fingers poised over the keys while her mind ricocheted between her job and her personal life was not the best use of her time, Rory gave up for the moment. Instead, she took out her phone. Maybe, if she could nail down Olivia for another meeting, it would provide the motivation, the kick in the butt, that her mind needed in order to commit her questions to paper.

It took Rory a moment to find Olivia's number. Worrying about keeping her potential source as anonymous as possible, Rory hadn't saved it into her contacts in anyway. Instead, she'd had to scroll through her surprisingly large recent call history until she came across a number that wasn't attached to a contact.

_Can we meet again? Still have things I need to nail down._

Rory tried to make her message as vague as possible. She didn't want anyone possibly finding Olivia should she provide her with valuable information. Hopefully, Rory thought, her text would look like one of the other six she'd sent that week that had to do with her mother's wedding planning and would not stand out as being related to her article. She silently thanked her mom for deciding that moment to get married, so Rory had a bit of cover.

Setting her phone down on her desk beside her keyboard, Rory turned back to her previous task. She somewhat pointlessly stretched out her fingers over the keys, held them over the small squares for a second, and then began to type. The text seemed to be working in some way as she quickly wrote down four questions under her heading where there had previously been nothing.

It was just as she was about to start typing down her fifth question, about where Olivia was getting her information from, when her phone pinged. Rory was a little surprised at the promptness of Olivia's response. She'd spent the better part of a week trying to pin this girl down and yet, on her twelfth text of the week, it had taken Olivia only about fifteen minutes to respond.

Momentarily distracted from her question writing, Rory picked up her phone, unlocked the screen, and pressed on the message icon, a small red 1 in the corner to indicate a new message. However, when the application opened, Rory's heart fell slightly. Her message to Olivia was unanswered; the ping and the little number 1 were not a result of her.

Annoyed at the whole situation, Rory put her phone down, a little harder than she'd intended to maybe, and tried to return to her questions. This time though, her mind was filled with various scenarios, each one a little worse than the one before, as to why a woman who had reached out to her had apparently pulled a 180 and decided she didn't actually want to be helpful.

* * *

"I need a coffee!" Rory exclaimed, five minutes later, standing over the desk of her work friend Zoe. The other woman, who had moments before been hurriedly typing away at a small black laptop, jumped up.

"I've been waiting for someone to have a writer's block large enough they needed a coffee," Zoe exclaimed. Rory was a little surprised at her eagerness, she had only moments before at least appeared to be hard at work, but the brunette chose not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Well, it wasn't writer's block exactly," Rory responded, as the pair made their way out of the office and down to the street below.

"Doesn't matter. I gladly take any excuse to get out of the office! I hate it there; very oppressive," Zoe spoke before skipping off. Rory thought of asking her friend why she chose to work in an office, even if it was a newspaper office, if she found it so harsh but she quickly decided against it. Asking such a question could potentially lead to a long lecture which Rory did not need. Especially not in that particular moment.

That, and her phone had pinged for a second time.

She turned to it this time with a little more trepidation, which was born out when she again saw no response from Olivia. However, this time instead of ignoring the message, Rory decided to figure out who was texting her. She backed out of her one-sided conversation with Olivia and nearly dropped her phone.

She was frozen in spot and, after she'd walked halfway down the block, Zoe noticed. The other woman quickly spun on her heel and returned to Rory's side, a worried expression on her face.

"Everything okay, darling?" she asked. Rory couldn't respond. Even more concerned, Zoe looked over Rory's shoulder to see what was on her phone. "Who's Logan? And why does he want to take you out on a date?"

Finally, Rory seemed to find her voice again. "Logan is my ex-boyfriend. And the head of Huntzberger Enterprises, the subject of my current investigation."

"If you're asking me," Zoe said, swishing around her small green splash stick as she spoke, "I would say yes." After Rory's revelation that Logan, who she was in the middle of investigating, had for the second time in less than a month, asked her out on a date, Zoe had been rightfully stunned. The two girls had stood feet from the New York Time's offices, staring at each other.

Zoe was the one to recover first and she had then proceeded to coax Rory into walking down the street to get a coffee. Now, they were comfortably situated in a pair of plush chairs in the corner of the Starbucks.

"Why?" Rory asked, staring incredulously at her friend. They'd ordered their coffees and then Zoe had pried out almost all of Rory's secrets; those particularly relevant to their current situation.

"Because your source has disappeared on you and this is a potential in. not that I think the CEO will open up and say, 'I am a dirty rotten criminal who is defrauding my investors and stockholders.' But he might let slip some pertinent information." Rory's incredulous look turned to a skeptical one. Zoe was an out of the box thinker, but this was so far out of the box that the box might as well be on the moon.

"And if it's not an in, you at least get what is most likely a fancy dinner and an evening off and, if I'm being honest Ror, you could do with some of that."

"It is a terrible idea, Zoe. I'm supposed to remain objective, not hop into bed with the subject of my story," Rory responded in a harsh whisper. She didn't want the whole coffee shop to hear their conversation.

"No one was suggesting that!" Zoe responded. She appeared to be aghast at the suggestion, but Rory picked up on the hint of theatricality that surrounded the other woman. "I'm just saying have a dinner with the guy. You've already tried to interview him once and it didn't work. Maybe it's time to try a more covert way of getting the answers to your question. And you don't have to agree to keep going out with the guy. All I'm saying is one date."

Rory remained silent for several seconds. She raised her coffee, long ago gone cold, and took a drawn out sip as an excuse. As she did so, she mulled over Zoe's words. What was the worst that would happen? Logan would flirt with her; it could be extremely awkward; it could be absolutely pointless. But if she was successful, she wouldn't have to try and chase down Olivia.

Maye it was some sort of sign. After all, it was moments after she'd texted her non-informant that Logan had sent his message. Was it the universe's way of answering her question? Was the universe telling her to forgo Olivia in favour of Logan?

"Okay. I'll go on one dinner date. But you have to look after Ricky."

Zoe smiled widely at her friend before squealing with joy and clapping her hands like a child.

"It's like I've one twice. Convinced you to do something and am being rewarded with time with my favourite tiny human."

Rory rolled her eyes at Zoe and hoped that she wasn't making a terrible mistake. Logan Huntzberger could be quite irresistible when he wanted to be and Rory didn't want to fall back under his spell. Right?


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Rory couldn't believe that she was doing this. Why was she doing this? Why had she said yes? Was it what Zoe had said? Was it something else? Questions raced around her mind as she raced around her room, trying to pull together an outfit.

"You okay?" a mirthful voice asked from the doorway. Rory stopped her wild running, surprised. Standing in the doorway of her New York City apartment was her Stars Hallow friend Lane. Rory quickly ran through a mental checklist, wondering if she knew that Lane was supposed to be visiting her. Maybe, Rory had a legitimate excuse to not go out tonight. If she'd already made plans with Lane, she could believably, and respectfully, decline the plans she made more recently.

"What are you doing here?" It wasn't the politest way to greet a childhood friend you hadn't seen in a few weeks, but it was all Rory could manage. Lane's arrival was such a surprise, and she still hadn't come up with a memory of Lane saying she would be visiting.

"Zach and I have a weekend free from the kids, my mom is taking them on a tour of Seventh-Day Adventist churches, so we came up here to see that Broadway play that everyone has been talking about. I figured, while I was in your neck of the woods, I'd stop by, see how you were doing. And it seems like it's a good thing that I did." Lane glanced around Rory's small bedroom. Every available surface was currently covered in clothes that Rory had rejected as potential outfits; it looked like a bomb had gone off.

Rory looked at her friend a little crestfallen. She didn't have the excuse of previous plans to fall back on and, with Lane's predetermined plans, Rory also couldn't use the excuse that her friend had shown up out of the blue and Rory would have to entertain her and therefore couldn't follow through on her other plans. Lane didn't need a babysitter. Rory was out of viable reasons to cancel.

"I may have done something stupid," Rory responded, sinking down into the pile of clothes that covered her bed.

"I thought I saw a flying pig on my way here from the train," Lane spoke, coming to sit beside her friend. Rory smiled up at Lane; her best friend had a faith in Rory that the brunette didn't necessarily think she deserved.

"You know how I'm writing an expose on Logan and his potentially illegal business practices?" Rory asked her friend, staring up at the ceiling. Lane nodded her head, which Rory felt instead of saw.

"You know how I went to interview Logan and he spent most of that time flirting with me?" Again, Rory felt Lane nod in agreement.

"Well, two days ago Logan basically blew up my phone asking me out on a date and my annoying work friend Zoe talked me into it. So, I am going to some super trendy restaurant tonight before we go to some non-Broadway related show. He wasn't super specific on the details." Rory bit her tongue before she began to nervously ramble and waited to hear what Lane had to say. Her friend was quiet for an excruciatingly long time before she rolled onto her side to face Rory.

"You're going on a date with Logan Huntzberger?" Lane asked, her tone unusually level. Rory, who's nerve endings were already frayed, felt them unravel even further. What was Lane going to say? Rory couldn't tell. In response to the question, Rory nodded.

However, when Lane was quiet for even more seconds, Rory felt a need to give her friend more detail. "Zoe figured that, since I didn't get a lot out of Logan at our interview and my source in the company seems to be giving me the run-around, I could use this date as a covert interview and try and get some more information out of Logan. I thought it was a good idea, though now I'm not so sure."

Lane was silent for another beat before she finally spoke, "I just want you to remember the various heartbreaks you've had because of Logan. I remember all the punch that you, Paris, and I drank that one summer. I remember the fact that you had to go to therapy after you dropped out of Yale for him. When you turned down his proposal, I was very happy for you. I thought you would finally be finished with him. Just remember all those bad times so you don't get sucked into the Logan Huntzberger charm."

Rory wasn't sure that Lane was accurately remembering all of the details of her relationship with Logan, especially the therapy part, but she decided against focusing on the small details. That wasn't the important part. Lane was worried about Rory being dragged down by the gravitational force that was Logan, which was the same thing that Rory was worried about.

"I won't get sucked in. And I won't need to remember that being with Logan is a rollercoaster ride. All I need to focus on is the fact that, despite his actions to the otherwise, Logan is currently married." Rory saw the look that flashed across Lane's face and held up a finger to silence her friend for the moment.

"I am only going out with him for the story. It's basically a business dinner. Nothing will happen and I am not ruining another marriage. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the huge fight with my mom to make me never want to do it again. If his wife somehow finds out about this, I'll tell her the truth. I have no feelings for Logan and was only trying to get information out of him."

Lane still looked skeptical. "Can I ask one question and promise you won't get mad," she spoke slightly hesitantly. Rory nodded at her friend, though she wasn't sure she could guarantee her reaction. She was a little, no scratch that, a lot rattled at the moment. "If this isn't a date but a business dinner, why does your room look like a tornado has been through here?"

Rory smiled up at her friend. "It may be a business dinner, but that doesn't mean I know what to wear!"

* * *

Rory sat at the table in what was probably the nicest, fanciest, ritziest restaurants she had ever set foot in. As she carefully perused the menu, she hoped that Logan wouldn't suddenly decide he wanted to go Dutch. A simple salad cost the same as her typical utility bill, not to mention if she wanted something more substantial like pasta or a meat dish.

Logan, always perceptive, seemed to pick up on Rory's unease. "Order whatever you like; as I'm sure you're aware, my company is doing extremely well." Logan smirked knowingly at her. Rory smiled nicely in response but continued to look down at her menu and not meeting Logan's eye. It was a lot harder to keep the romantic vibes to a minimum on a date.

Finally, the waiter appeared and took Rory and Logan's orders. Now, with no excuse, Rory turned to look at Logan. She hadn't planned out what she was going to say tonight; she was worried that it would come across as scripted and backfire on her. As well, it hadn't seemed to matter too much that she had prepared for her interview; Logan had just taken over. Hopefully, he would do that again, but this time Rory would be able to steer him in the direction that she wanted.

"I have to say, I was quite surprised that you finally agreed to my proposals," Logan spoke. Rory wasn't sure if the choice of word was conscious, but there was something in his tone that made Rory think that he knew what he was doing. The word proposal in relation to their date was very deliberate.

"Well, after four or five texts, it becomes easier to just agree to the request instead of ignoring it," Rory responded coyly. She was a little surprised that she was so easily flirting, but she told herself, if she wasn't being flirty and acting like she was enjoying herself, Logan may get suspicious when she started quizzing him about his business.

"To finally wearing you down," Logan spoke, proposing a toast by raising his glass in her direction. Almost subconsciously, Rory raised her glass in response. After they clinked their glasses together and took a sip of their drinks, Logan's whole demeanour seemed to change. He went from an easy, flirty attitude, to serious.

"There was something I wanted to talk to you about," Logan said, his tone level. Rory, who had begun to feel at ease in her situation, suddenly became on edge. What was so serious? What did he need to talk about? Ricky? Her story? There were too many things that Rory was trying to keep hidden from Logan that she couldn't pinpoint the potential cause.

"I know that you know that I got married a little after we broke up." Rory was a little surprised that _this _is what Logan wanted to talk about in such a serious manner. "Well, what you don't know is that we got a divorce about six months ago. I wouldn't have asked you out if I was otherwise attached. I know when we met back in college, I was the type of guy who would, but I hoped you knew that I had changed since then."

"Oh," Rory spoke, unable to contain her surprise. Logan wasn't married any more. He wasn't being sleezy asking her out while he was married. He was genuinely interested in her. There was potential between them, unlike what she had believed only moments before.

A strange feeling began to bubble up in her stomach. It was a sort of nervous anticipation, like she was excited about the prospect of Logan. What did that mean?

Rory took another sip of her wine to try and buy her some time to come up with something at least halfway intelligible to say in response to Logan's divulgence. The wine, though she hadn't had a lot, seemed to go right to her head and she spoke before she really thought about it.

"I'm glad you got a divorce."

* * *

The rest of the evening felt sort of like an out of body experience. Rory was no longer in control of her mind, body, or movements. She wasn't drunk; she'd only had about a glass of wine. There was something else that was causing her strange inability to be in the driver's seat of her own life. And, as a result, the Rory that enjoyed her dinner with Logan, flirting and even lightly touching him, was not the same Rory who had promised Lane that she would keep her distance.

Dinner went so well that Rory, drunk in the moment but not actually drunk, agreed to continue the evening at an off-Broadway play. It had been part of the original date, but Rory had planned to bail out early, say she needed to get home to put her son to bed or relieve her babysitter or something. After all, you couldn't exactly conduct an interview while watching other people perform; that was considered he height of rudeness. Yet now, she had all but forgotten her interview and was instead enjoying the moment with Logan.

She'd oddly meant it when she said she was glad Logan had gotten a divorce. Not that she was glad that his marriage had fallen apart, that he and his wife had undoubtably experienced heartache and pain. What she was glad about, and it was something quite surprising to the young woman, was that Logan was once again on the market.

Rory had thought she'd gotten Logan out of her system. After all, she was the one who had said no to his proposal. Now though, she seemed to be rewriting history. For years, she'd told herself that it wasn't just that she and Logan were moving in two different directions in their lives, but that she wasn't as head-over-heels in love with him, not enough to marry him. And especially not enough to give up her career to marry him. But now, as the pair strolled down the New York streets, bundled close to each other in an attempt to ward off the cold, Rory was beginning to think that it might have been the physical distance that had stayed her hand. Maybe she did have strong enough feelings for Logan to marry him, but at that point her career had been more important. Now that her career was established, and both she and Logan were in the same city, maybe those feelings were beginning to surface again.

Maybe, Rory wasn't as over Logan as she initially thought. And maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Rory herself was surprised that she had enjoyed her date with Logan. When they were younger, their relationship had been plagued with drama. They had make ups, break ups, cheating, theft, dropping out of school, fights with family, fights because of their family, crazy antics, and even a death scare. Rory had never been bored with Logan, but she had also never really felt secure in their relationship. There were moments, when she thought she could see herself growing old with Logan, the two of them sitting on a porch watching blonde haired, blue eyed grandchildren running around in the yard in front of them. However, the idyllic bubble was always quickly burst by one of the many dramatic events that were so common.

But her date with Logan. It had Rory once again thinking about that porch and those grandchildren. There hadn't been drama; there had been potential of drama surrounding Logan's marital status, but that drama had quickly fizzled out. Logan was no longer married, and Rory wasn't his potential mistress. Once she'd gotten home and away from the headiness that was Logan, Rory had checked out that claim. She'd texted an acquaintance who wrote for a number of gossip columns and had the end of Logan's marriage confirmed.

So, the bubble grew. There were definitely things that, if Rory really focused on them could burst her bubble.

She was currently investigating Logan and his company for illegal activity. That had the potential of raining down a lot of drama, but Rory had yet to actually find anything on Huntzberger Enterprise so maybe there was nothing to find.

Then there was the way she'd felt around Jess. That had been only a week before she'd agreed to the date with Logan. She hadn't seen him since and she hadn't really processed what she was feeling and what it could potentially mean. But she probably wasn't going to see Jess too often. They hadn't really run into each other in a decade so what would make the future any different than the past?

The last fact that could burst Rory's bubble was her son. Logan was Ricky's father. Logan did not know that. If he found out, or even if Rory told him, it could lead to a fight or a court case, and, while she and Logan would still technically have grandchildren to run around a front yard, there would definitely be no sitting beside Logan on a porch. But, Rory reasoned, she had kept her secret from everyone, even her best friend and mother, for ten years. Why would it come out know?

In the days after her date with Logan, Rory was still so taken up him, so wrapped up in the romance she'd experienced, and the feelings that had come flooding back, that she wasn't thinking straight. She was dismissing facts and inconveniences that she really shouldn't have, but they made her relationship (or whatever it was that she had) with Logan problematic and, for once in her life, Rory wanted a stress-free, adult relationship. She wanted things to be easy and romantic. She didn't want to have to work at it. And if she simply didn't concern herself with all the potential issues, she had that with Logan.

* * *

About a week after her first date with Logan in a decade, something happened that made it even easier for Rory to delude herself and ignore her potential concerns. She had been at work, trying (though not very hard) and not succeeding to get in contact with her source in Huntzberger Enterprises. She hadn't heard hide nor hair from Olivia in almost two weeks, though she hadn't really been pushing too hard for the last week. It was all part of the delusion.

Rory had just sent another email, a short one asking Olivia to contact her, when a ping sounded indicating she had received an email. Rory knew that it couldn't be a response; she'd literally sent her email thirty seconds before. What she thought the sound indicated was an automated email saying that hers had failed to be sent, for whatever reason. She clicked on the small dialogue box that had popped up without really reading it, thinking that she was just going to delete it.

However, instead of opening up a typical email message box, only seconds after she clicked, her computer went black. Seconds later, but long enough for Rory to worry that she'd unwittingly downloaded a virus onto her work computer, old-style bright green computer text appeared on her screen.

_Are you ready? _ the text read.

Rory was now very confused. She was about 80% sure that this wasn't a virus. She'd never heard of malware that took over your computer and then asked you if you were prepared for something. However, Rory didn't know what to do, so she simply sat and stared at her computer.

_Time for an adventure. _

The new text appeared on her screen, replacing the previous three words. As soon as the period was mysteriously typed onto the screen, music began to sound. Rory knew it wasn't coming from her computer, or, more accurately, Rory knew it wasn't coming from her computer alone. All around her, she could hear the same music playing. It quickly began to fill up office. Her coworkers began looking around, trying to figure out what was going on.

_Come outside. _

As the last two words appeared on the screen, the music reached a crescendo. It was louder than it had been only seconds before and now everyone in the open area that was filled with cubicles, as well as those in positions of higher authority who had offices around the space, was aware of it.

Rory didn't want to follow instructions given to her by a mysterious person on her computer. That was the start of one of those thriller movies where she is kidnapped by international spies and some rouge, extremely handsome agent would be forced to try and rescue her. However, if she stayed everyone in the office would know that the strange disturbance that had shattered the previously quite working environment had come from her computer.

Without thinking about it too much further, Rory grabbed her coat and ducked out the back stairway. She was pretty sure that no one had seen her leave, so hopefully her behaviour wouldn't come off as too suspicious. She waited in the stairwell for a few seconds just to be sure. If someone had seen her hurried retreat, she could play it off as just wanting to get away from the music; it was pretty ear splitting.

However, no one came, and Rory quickly made her way down the stairwell and out onto the street. She pushed open the heavy exterior door, raised her hand to block the sudden flash of bright sunlight, and then turned to see if she could spot the person responsible for the disturbance.

She didn't have to look long.

Almost directly opposite the door, as if whoever had organized the events knew that Rory would come out the emergency exit doors, stood an elegant town car. A well-dressed man with a driver's hat stood at the back door and, upon spotting Rory, opened it up to her. Once again, Rory experienced a slight moment of hesitancy, worried about that international spy organization, but it quickly passed.

Rory hurried across the back lot and into the car. As soon as she'd seen it, and gotten over her irrational concerns about spies, Rory knew what was happening. This thing, silly and yet bothersome, had the telltale signs, the mark, of the Life and Death brigade.

"I knew you'd come," Logan spoke. He sat in a seat opposite the door where Rory stood, a glass of amber liquid in his hand and an impish look on his face. He then took his hand with the glass in it and motioned to the seat beside him. Rory hesitated; she wasn't sure if she should get into the car and skip a day of work. Then, she thought about what her job was at that moment. She was supposed to be investigating him. Surely, if someone really cared that much, she could justify spending the day with him.

Her mind settled; Rory climbed into the town car. Logan tapped on the divider between the back seat and the driver. The car then slowly began to move, and Logan began pouring Rory a drink.

"So, what's the plan?" Rory asked as Logan handed her a drink. She was a little surprised to see that it was a gin martini. It had always been her mother's drink of choice and recently Rory had started drinking them, but she hadn't thought that Logan was aware of it.

"I thought a nice weekend was in order. And I would have sent you a message or asked you out in a more normal way, but I'd already made the reservations and I couldn't wait another week to wear you down until you agreed with me. I figured this would be my most effective way." Logan smiled impishly at her and Rory couldn't help but think about their initial meeting, what drew them together back in University.

It had been the Life and Death Brigade then and it was the Life and Death Brigade now.

* * *

The inn where Logan had made his reservation was absolutely spectacular. It was situated on a lake in the middle of the woods. It felt like it was in another, magical, fairy tale world. Rory couldn't believe that this was her life.

The room was cozy, rugs on the floor and a large fireplace the took up almost the whole wall. There was a roaring fire when they arrived, and it created a warm, snug glow. Rory instantly felt calm and relaxed. She knew it was going to be a good weekend.

They spent the first night in their room. Logan ordered room service for dinner, an extravagant meal of steak and vegetables and an absolutely delicious wine. Rory felt a glow within her, a glow she remembered and, in all honesty missed, from their days together in university.

"This is unbelievable," Rory mused as she lay, sprawled out on one of the large couches in front of the fire. She had her head in Logan's lap, feeling absolutely at ease.

"This is just another weekend for me," Logan boasted, a playful smirk on his face. Rory turned her body from facing the fire to looking up at Logan.

"You have a lot of women up here?" Rory teased back, though in the back of her mind she was curious about his answer. When she had first met Logan, he had made it clear that he was not a relationship person. He had changed his mind eventually, his desire to be with Rory overwhelming his playboy attitude. Then he'd gotten married and stayed married for almost a decade. So surely, he wasn't the same playboy Rory had first met, but she wasn't entirely sure.

"No," Logan responded, suddenly sounding very serious, "I usually come up here on my own. It's sort of an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Running a company can make life quite hectic and every once in a while, I just need an escape." As Logan spoke, his voice developed a far away quality, almost as if he was reminiscing about other times that he had come up to the Catskills.

Rory was relieved that she was the only girl that he had brought to visit the inn. In fact, what she was feeling was more than relief. She felt special. This was Logan's sanctuary, in a sense, his escape. Normally, your escape was for you and you alone. Yet here she was, nestled in the warmth of a fire.

As the information rolled over her, that same strange out of body experience that Rory had felt the last time she was around Logan overcame her once again. She felt as if she was no longer in complete control of her body. Things were happening before her brain had the chance to process it and make the decision of whether she wanted it. That whole part was skipped over and her body just decided that she did want it and acted on it.

It was because of that sensation that Rory found herself sitting up from her position and moving so that she was sideways on the couch facing Logan. Then she leaned in and began to kiss him, slow at first and them more intense and hurried as the seconds passed. Before she knew it, she was sitting in Logan's lap, their lips alternatively fused together or exploring each other's body. And, it was with this out of body experience that Rory found herself, perhaps against his better judgement, falling into bed with her ex-boyfriend (and secret father of her son).


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Rory was the most comfortable she had ever been in her entire life. It felt like she was laying on a cloud, a warm and cozy cloud. She was so comfortable that she didn't want to get out of bed, but her phone was an arm's length away quietly chirping her wake up song. She wished that she could stay in the bed for a few more hours at least, but she had places to be. She'd promised to help her mom at the flower market, and it was some sort of well-known secret that, in order for you to actually be successful at the flower shop, you had to get there before the crack of dawn.

With an annoyed groan, Rory rolled out of bed and grabbed her phone. She quickly looked around for her clothes, strewn across the room, and headed into the bathroom to get changed and prepared for the day. Luckily, her mother had no idea what she'd worn yesterday, so there would be no walk of shame for her.

Satisfied with her appearance, Rory quickly pulled out her phone to check train times and, realising that if she wanted to make her appointment with her mom she'd have to rush, she headed out the door. However, before she let it close behind her, Rory took a second to glance one last time at the contently sleeping Logan. He looked so peaceful, and also incredibly attractive, in his current state and Rory had to fight the urge to crawl back into bed and wake him up.

With a final, determined breath, Rory let the door close and headed off into the morning.

* * *

The train was surprisingly quiet. Though, as Rory's sleep-fog addled brain slowly booted up with the coffee she was readily fueling it with, she realised that it probably wasn't that surprising. She was after all, leaving New York and heading for Connecticut. Everyone else who was on the train right now would be going in the opposite direction. Rory took another large sip of coffee, hoping that she could be a better functioning person by the time she met up with her mom.

Rory looked out the window and momentarily grumbled about the fact that she was up before the sun, but then brightened at the prospect of spending the day with her mother. Lorelai always made Rory feel better, not to mention that Lorelai was always the person that Rory turned to when she needed advice or was conflicted. Not that she was particularly conflicted or in need of advice at that moment.

Her life was definitely chaotic, and definitely not idyllic at that moment. She had an assignment at work that didn't seem to be progressing at all. Her secret, that she had carefully kept for the past ten years without raising any suspicion (or at least no one openly questioned her about it), was precariously close to being revealed to the last person she wanted to know it. Really, it was only her personal life that seemed easy and to be going her way.

She was enjoying her time with Logan. She wasn't fretting about how he saw her or where their relationship might be going. Logan was comfortable, someone she had once known extremely well and still felt like she knew fairly well. Being with him felt like slipping back into an idealized time in her past when things were easier, and she didn't have the same worries and stresses. Plus, it was just fun. At one point, Rory might have seen herself ending up with Logan, in rocking chairs on a porch as the image went. Now, however, she wasn't worried about the future; she was just having fun in the present.

No, she didn't need her mother's advice. She would be able to figure everything out. She was sure of it. With this decision, Rory relaxed into her seat on the train, downed mouthfuls of coffee, and watched the sun rise over the beautiful landscape out her window. Today, she thought, would be a good day.

* * *

Waking up next to Logan and then spending the morning shopping with her mother was the high point of her week. It was all downhill from there. She wasn't sure what she was expecting; good things usually didn't continue to happen. At best, after a few amazing, potentially life-altering events, life normally returned to monotony at best and terrible awfulness at worst. Rory landed somewhere in between.

She was back to her normal rhythm with her son, making sure he ate and got enough sleep. The was the part of her life that was more in the monotony realm than the terrible awfulness realm. Though Ricky had always been easy. He needed very little to make him happy (really a book and not a lot else), and mostly parenting him revolved around making sure his basic needs were met.

Where the terrible awfulness was rearing its ugly head was in her work. She hadn't found anything incriminating, or even remotely questionable in the minimal amount of digging she'd managed to do. Logan Enterprises was wrapped up tighter than a newborn baby. Aside from whatever leaks had spawned this story (and Rory was feeling more and more like there may not have been a leak in the first place), there was no negative information getting out about the company.

She'd gone to all her regular sources, insiders that had their ears and eyes open all the time, that knew every little secret and goings-on in every business. She'd gone snooping around the SCC to see if they had heard anything, and maybe even tried to suggest that they start. She'd even sent at least a hundred messages, emails, and texts to the source, that had sought her out she reminded herself. All of it resulted in a big pile of nothing. She'd gotten so frustrated that she even considered covertly asking Logan about it.

Initially, she thought she could use Logan as a sort of unaware informant. That she could prod him for information when he wasn't suspecting it and that maybe he would give away something that she could use in her story. Then she'd started dating him and all of those thoughts had gone out the window. She was going to keep her personal life and her work life separate. The Logan Huntzberger she was dating had nothing to do with the Huntzberger Enterprises she was investigating. It wasn't easy, but it was keeping her sane.

Except that it meant that while her romantic, personal life was flourishing, her work life was slowly dying. Maybe, though that wasn't a bad thing. Maybe she wasn't finding something because there was nothing to find. Her story would die, and she would have one less thing that she was keeping from Logan.

Then, there were things with her mother. The wedding planning itself was going quite well. Lorelai and Rory had quickly found an absolute beautiful combination of flowers that would make up the bouquets and other decorations. Sookie would be handling the menu and the cake; she would be making all the culinary decisions and even if Rory and Lorelai tried to persuade her otherwise, they would be unsuccessful at making their voices heard. So that was one less thing that Rory had to worry about.

What was really concerning Rory was whether or not her mother and grandmother would end up murdering each other before the wedding was able to happen. Rory essentially had to play the role of referee, keeping the peace between the two. Rory had to remind her grandmother that it was Lorelai's wedding and not Emily's. Her grandmother would not get the final say in the decision making process and when Lorelai made a choice that Emily wouldn't have, Rory had to remind her grandmother that it wasn't the older Gilmore woman's place to make a comment about it. And, Rory had to remind her mom that Emily Gilmore had missed so much of their lives that she know came across a little desperate, but it would be worse if Lorelai cut out her mother altogether. Emily would not take kindly to being left out and it would be a bigger headache.

So, Rory was forced to play the go-between and the peacekeeper to ensure that both the bride and the mother of the bride made it to wedding day.

It had all added up to a pretty terrible week and Rory spent most of her time counting down the days until the weekend. Logan had texted her on Wednesday, when she was with her mother and her grandmother, so she hadn't looked at it right away. He had told her to prepare for the weekend, to find someone to look after her son, and then given her instructions on what to wear. Those instructions involved a warm sweater, a scarf, and to pack some active wear. Rory had no idea what he had planned, but the mere idea of a romantic weekend made it possible for Rory to solider through her week.

* * *

"Thanks for doing this for me mom," Rory said as she passed over Ricky's things over to Lorelai. Rory knew that her mother was giving her an intense, questioning look, wondering where her daughter was going for the weekend and with whom, but Rory didn't meet her mother's stare and therefore didn't feel the full effects. Rory hadn't wanted to involve her mom; Lorelai had never been a big fan of Logan and had, in fact, been quite delighted when they had initially broken up. She really didn't want to have her mother's judgement about their current relationship and had tried to keep it from her mother. However, she hadn't been able to find anyone in New York willing and able to give up their weekend to look after Ricky and had been forced to turn to her mother.

"No problem. I love having Ricky come and visit and I get to spend an entire weekend with him. It will be a great time." Lorelai responded, still staring at her daughter. Rory, feeling her resolve begin to weaken and the urge to cave into her mother's desire strengthening, knew she had to leave quickly.

"Well, I have to get back to the city-" Rory began to speak, laying down her escape when she heard the sound of tires on her mother's gravel driveway. At first, she thought it was someone coming to visit Lorelai (though most people in Stars Hallow would have just walked), but the surprised look on her mother's face negated that. Slowly, and with an increasing dread, Rory turned around to see Logan Huntzberger's sleek town car driving up towards the pair.

'What is he doing here?' Rory shouted inside her head. She may have mentioned the fact, very offhandedly, that she would be dropping off her son at her mother's house before she could leave for the weekend, but she didn't think that Logan would show up there!

"So, this person that's taking you away for the weekend," Lorelai began, her tone not betraying anything. Rory knew that her mother knew who owned the car (the customized license plate was anything but subtle) but she didn't know what her mother thought of it. Her tone gave away no hint of whether or not she disapproved.

"It's just a fun, fling thing. Nothing serious," Rory began to explain, her speech hurried and a little slurred as a result. "And I'm keeping my story and my romantic life completely separate. Besides, I don't think there even is a story. I'm starting to think that this was all some cruel joke that Miranda came up with. She must have figured out that we used to date and did this to see me squirm or something."

"I just hope you remember what happened ten years ago," was all her mother said before turning back into the house. The phone had begun to ring, and Rory was also pretty sure that her mom didn't want to have to interact with Logan.

With her mother in the house, Rory turned back to the town car. It had come to a stop just inches behind the bumper of Lorelai's jeep. A man in a dapper outfit had gotten out of the driver's seat and made his way down the car and was in the process of opening up the back door. Rory couldn't help but roll her eyes at the whole show. She quickly jumped down the stairs and walked over to the car. She arrived just as Logan got out and he quickly swept her into a romantic kiss that left Rory's head spinning a little.

"I've missed you," he spoke, his voice low and husky. Rory felt her knees start to go weak and was internally grateful that Logan had his arm wrapped around her. Without it she was almost positive she would have become a puddle on the leaf strewn ground beneath her.

"You didn't have to come here. I hadn't exactly told my mom that I would be spending the weekend with you," Rory responded once she had regained control of her malfunctioning body parts. She tried to make her tone sound light and jokey, like it wasn't a big deal that he had basically outed her to her mother. She wasn't really upset; Lorelai would have found out eventually because Rory didn't keep things from her mother (her one large secret aside).

"No, mom. You don't need to do that!" Lorelai's loud, slightly panicky voice suddenly rang out from the house. Rory turned back, wondering what her grandmother had tried to do know that had her mother so distraught. She didn't have to wait too long, as once again the sound of tires on gravel filled the air.

'Oh no! Not Grandma too!' Rory thought. She momentarily wondered if she could get away with shoving Logan into the car and driving away before her grandmother's town car pulled all the way up, but she knew that wasn't a possibility. Not only would her mom know that she was seeing Logan Huntzberger again, but so would her grandmother.

Lorelai came rushing out of the house, phone clutched to her ear, and stood beside Logan and Rory, panic clearly written on her face. Rory smiled slightly apologetically at her mother. She hoped this whole Logan thing wouldn't throw too big of a wrench in the relationship between Lorelai and Emily. It had actually been quite cordial as of late; the wedding planning could have been so much worse than it was and both women were doing a commendable job of at least hearing out the other side before making their choice. Logan, and the potential secret-keeping that he implied, could implode all of that.

As Emily's car pulled to a stop and her window wound down, both Lorelai and Rory hurried over to greet the elder Gilmore girl.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

"Grandma!" Rory chimed. She was aware that her voice was far too chipper and cheery. She wasn't even attempting to act natural; her emotions were far to frayed for her to try and control them. However, Emily was immediately suspicious. She got out of the car and her eyes homed in on Logan's car and the man himself standing right beside it, looking a little sheepishly at the three Gilmore women.

"Logan!" Emily exclaimed, obviously not expecting to see him anywhere near her daughter's house. To be honest, Rory hadn't been expecting it either. "What brings you to Stars Hallow?" Emily then shot her daughter and granddaughter a disappointed look. Lorelai returned the look with an incredulous one of her own. Rory quickly interpreted her mother's look to mean 'how was she supposed to know that Logan was coming, and for that fact that Emily would be coming, and then relay this information'. She had not been aware of anyone coming to visit except for Rory and Ricky.

"Hello, Mrs. Gilmore. I just came to pick Rory up. We had plans for the weekend, and I figured it would be easier to meet here instead of having Rory come back into the city on the train and then heading north again," Logan explained. He stayed standing next to his car, obviously sensing the tension between the women and wisely choosing not to get too close.

"You're going out with Rory?" Emily asked. She turned her disappointed look from her daughter, Lorelai, to Rory. Lorelai also turned to look at her daughter and, much like her mother, this was the first she was hearing this.

"Yeah. It's fairly new," Rory tried to explain. She desperately wanted to extract herself from the situation but her only other option was to go stand by Logan which would not help the situation.

"I see," Emily said, drawing out the words. Everyone stood around rather awkwardly for a beat, not quite sure what to do. Then, suddenly, Emily's expression changed and a worrying, gleeful glint developed in her eyes. "Well, if you two are back together then Logan, you should definitely join us for Thanksgiving dinner!"

Rory swore under her breath. _She _barely liked going to the Gilmore Family Thanksgiving. Instead of a loving family bonding time, Thanksgiving at the Gilmore's was essentially an opportunity to brag about their success for the year amongst their equally extremely successful friends and neighbours. Rory always felt like a show pony whenever she was there and if she were to bring Logan along, it would make all of that even worse.

But then, she couldn't exactly say no. With Emily, it was always easier to go along with what she'd asked then trying to say no or coming up with an excuse. Emily would question and needle and pry until you gave in and relented anyway. Logan would have to come to Thanksgiving. There was no getting around it now.

"That would be lovely Emily. My family is all busy with vacations and their own family dinners so I was just going to have a meal by myself or go to a dinner or something, but this will be so much more enjoyable." Logan smiled warmly at her grandmother. Rory had forgotten with the passing years who absolutely amazing Logan was at schmoozing, especially grandparents and even more especially grandparents of the 1%.

"Well, I don't want to keep you and Rory any longer. I was just coming over to discuss wedding details with my daughter. You two should be heading off on your grand adventure," Emily replied, demurring at Logan's complement and ushering Rory towards Logan and his car. As Rory moved to get in the car and her mother moved back to the house, the younger Gilmore girl mouthed an apology to her mother. She wasn't sure how this whole mess was her fault, but she definitely felt that it somehow was.

Rory spent the two weeks between her grandmother's invitation to Thanksgiving dinner and the actual dinner itself in a state of absolute terror. It seemed that each day that passed, moving the dinner closer and closer Rory realised something else that made her panic even more.

First there had been the idea of her grandmother's friends discovering her boyfriend (or whatever relationship status she and Logan possessed). Her grandparent's acquaintances and friends were extremely nosy and gossipy. They wanted to know everything about everyone so they could judge them and decided if said person was worthy of being around. For most of her adult life, since her grandparents had become a more permanent part of her life, Rory had been trying to keep as much of her private life private from this group of people. They didn't need to know about who she was dating.

Then, she realised that bring a boy to an important family gathering like Thanksgiving dinner made their previously undefined relationship much more concrete. People in casual relationships didn't tend to meet families. People who were just having fun and enjoying each other's company usually preferred to just spend time with each other, maybe meeting friends but in a very casual, everyone hanging out situation. Would Logan coming to Thanksgiving dinner make him think that Rory wanted more out of this relationship? Would it make him think that this was more serious than it was? Did he want it to be that way? After all, he had agreed to come. He could have easily said that he was busy instead of revealing his depressing Thanksgiving Day plans.

Finally, and Rory was a little upset with herself that it was the last thing she thought about, Logan being invited to Thanksgiving dinner would mean an entire evening in which Logan would be in the presence of his son. Rory had been so careful, for so many years, trying to keep her secret. Logan had moved on quickly after they'd broken up and she hadn't wanted him to feel tied to her against his will, so she hadn't told him about Ricky. Then, not wanting the fact that Ricky was Logan's son to get back to him, she hadn't told anyone else about who Ricky's father was. Having Logan and Ricky around each other for an entire evening would mean that someone would put two and two together and all of the years of hard work that Rory had put in would all be for nothing. That was probably the biggest reason that Rory was currently panic, but it was also too late to really do anything about it.

"Okay. You've got your book, your schoolwork. Do you need a second book? Will one be enough?" Rory asked, fretting over her young son. Ricky for his part stood still, an exasperated expression on his face.

"I'm fine mom. But we won't be if we don't leave soon," Ricky said, grabbing his backpack with his things in them and heading out of the door. Rory let out a stressed sigh and followed after him. She felt extremely frazzled and, as she climbed down the stairs, she started to worry about whether or not she'd packed her train passes. She was digging through her purse when a horn sounded nearby. Normally, the sound of honking was part of the background soundtrack of her life, but this horn sounded extremely close and was followed by someone shouting her name.

Extremely confused, Rory looked up from her purse and felt her heart drop. Normally, the sight of Logan made Rory feel warm and fuzzy inside. However, on this occasion, seeing him standing outside his town car had the absolute opposite effect. It would take around two hours to drive up to her grandparents' house, which would only increase the amount of time that Logan and Ricky would be spending together.

This was the absolute last thing that Rory needed at that moment, but she didn't want to raise any suspicions, so she plastered a pleasant, but surprised, smile on her face. "Logan! You've got to stop surprising me with car rides. A heads up is always appreciated."

"It's more fun this way," Logan responded, a sheepish smile on his face. Rory couldn't help but mimic his playful expression before, slightly reluctantly, ushering Ricky towards the car.

"Ricky, this is my friend Logan. He knows Grandma Emily and Grandpa Richard and they invited him to join us for Thanksgiving dinner. Tell him thank you for the ride," Rory spoke to her son. Ricky nodded his thanks instead and then hurriedly climbed into the car. Rory followed, noticing that her son had made himself comfortable in a seat about as far away from the open door as possible. He had pulled out his book and quickly lost himself in it. Rory slid in beside him, essentially blocking her son from Logan. He followed her into the car and closed the door.

"Shall we," Logan asked. He was looking at Rory and not paying any attention to her son nestled in quietly beside her. Maybe she would be able to survive Thanksgiving. Maybe Ricky would be unassuming enough that no one started to put two and two together.

* * *

"How is life in New York, Rory? Is it just as glamorous as I imagine? Do you spend every evening going to Broadway shows, or the ballet, or the opera?" an insipid woman whom her grandmother knew through the DAR chatted Rory's ear off. As she listed the 'glamorous' options for Rory's evening she swished her nearly empty champagne glass around, the expensive liquid threatening to spill forth with every motion.

"Oh no nothing like that," Rory commented. She was trying to signal Logan with her eyes and slight head motions because he was across the room chatting to some businessmen-looking-types. She was hoping that he would come and save her from the boring conversation she had accidentally gotten herself in to. Her mother and Luke, who she was positive had also been invited, hadn't arrived yet, so she was relying on Logan to act as her quote unquote protector for the evening. At least until her mom arrived.

"Hello ladies, mind if I cut in here?" Logan asked, finally getting Rory's signals and coming over to save her. Without waiting for a response from the boring socialite crowd around him, Logan steered Rory away from the group and into the corner where Ricky had taken up residence. So far, Rory had been right about her son being extremely unassuming and drawing little attention; barely any one at her grandparent's little party had even acknowledged that Ricky was there.

"Thank you for saving me," Rory spoke, a little out of breath at the whirlwind of it all, "I was drowning over there. Those women and the conversations they have are so vain and banal that I feel like I was losing brain cells just standing there."

"Well, these women lead very small lives, so they only have very small topics to draw from," Logan responded, his tone jovial as he took a swig of the amber liquid in his highball glass. Rory wasn't sure what it was, though it did smell a little like whiskey.

"I know. I hate these sorts of things. Friday night dinners are fine; my grandparents can at least hold an interesting, intelligible conversations, but for some reason their friends cannot. I try and avoid these parties at all costs, and I'm really sorry that you got dragged into all of this." Rory took a step closer to Logan. Even though he hadn't done much, his little heroic act of saving her from party chitchat had left Rory feeling quite romantic. He was her knight in shining armour and she would gladly play the damsel in distress.

Logan, likewise, stepped closer to Rory and began whispering intimate sweet nothings in her ear. The fact that Rory was standing only feet from her son was quickly forgotten and, for his part, Ricky seemed oblivious to his mother standing in front of him.

* * *

"Rory, a word," the slightly harsh voice of her grandmother broke Rory out of her revere. She and Logan had been standing only inches apart holding a flirty suggestive conversation only seconds before. In fact, if her grandmother hadn't stepped in, Rory was sure that they were only moments away from finding a secluded room for some along time. Instead, Rory was forced to take a step back from Logan and turn to her grandmother.

"Yes, Grandma," Rory responded. She was still a little clouded from her interaction with Logan and so it took her a moment to realise that Emily had a strange expression on her face. It was a combination of anger, shock, surprise, relief, and something else that Rory couldn't quite put her finger on. The number of warring emotions combined to produce an overall crazed look on her grandmother's face. Instantly, Rory knew it was serious.

"Let's go talk somewhere private," Rory quickly spoke, directing her grandmother away from the crowded party and into her grandfather's office. It was always a place of refuge and Rory knew it would be empty. They could talk here and not worry about someone overhearing them.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Emily asked as soon as the door closed behind her. Rory was confused.

"Tell you what, grandma?" Rory's tone may have come across a little more innocent than she had intended, but she genuinely had no idea what her grandmother was talking about. What had happened to Emily at the party that had caused her to act in such a strange way.

"About Ricky and Logan!" Emily exclaimed exasperatedly. Rory froze. The one thing that Rory had been worried about getting out, the one secret she had (and one of the only ones she'd ever had) had been found out. If her grandmother knew, soon everyone would know.

"What are you talking about grandma?" Rory tried to play it off. Maybe if she could convince Emily that she was barking up the wrong tree, she could convince her grandmother to drop the whole thing.

"Don't play dumb with me Rory. I saw the two of them. Side by side the similarities are hard to miss. Ricky looks exactly like Logan. And he was born only a little while after the two of you broke up. Logan is Ricky's father!" Emily had been working herself up more and more as she spoke and was almost yelling by the time she finished. Rory realised her tactic hadn't worked; in fact, some might even say it had backfired.

"Okay, okay, grandma. Relax. There's no need to yell," Rory said, trying to calm her grandmother down. The last thing she needed was someone else at the party overhearing and her secret getting out that much faster.

* * *

On the other side of the door to Richard Gilmore's office, Logan Huntzberger quietly slunk back into the crowded party behind him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Have you told your mother" Emily asked. She and Rory had been holed up in Richard's office for about twenty minutes, the Thanksgiving dinner party going on outside the door without them. It had taken Rory about that long to calm down her grandmother. Part of that process had been admitting to her that Ricky was, in fact, Logan's son. Emily had taken it surprisingly well, though Rory was sure that had something to do with the fact that she'd always wanted a Huntzberger grandchild and she had just found out that she'd had one. For the past ten years, at that.

"No. I haven't told anyone. Not mom. Not Logan. Not even Lane or Paris. When I found out, I went to go tell Logan and I found out he'd moved on already. At that moment, I didn't want him to know, didn't want him to feel like he was trapped with me because of Ricky. So, I figured that if no one knew who Ricky's father was, it couldn't ever get back to Logan. Then, ten years had passed, and it was far too late to tell anyone, even after Logan and I started up again." Rory explained. She knew it was justification, that she should really stop explaining it away and just own up to her stupid decision, but she still felt like she needed to explain herself.

A small smile of satisfaction crossed Emily's face, most likely at the fact that she was privy to some part of Rory's life while Lorelai wasn't. "You should probably tell your mother. And, for that matter, you should probably tell Logan. It won't be easy, coming clean after all these years, but it's the right thing to do."

Rory let out a sigh. "You're right, grandma. It's time to come clean. I've kept this secret for far too long." Rory then stood from her seat. "We should get back to the party before people start to miss us. Especially since this is your party." Emily nodded and then stood and returned to the dinner. She melded back into the groups of people as if she hadn't just confronted her granddaughter about a major part of her life. Rory envied her grandmother her emotional control.

"There you are! I've been here almost thirty minutes without a sighting of you. I was worried you weren't coming but then I saw Ricky. So, I knew you had to be here somewhere," Lorelai spoke, sidling up to her daughter, a half full martini clutched in her hand.

"Grandma cornered me," Rory explained, motioning to the retreating figure of Emily. She was going to tell her mom about Ricky, but her grandparents' Thanksgiving dinner party was not the location she wanted to do it.

"Say no more," Lorelai explained. "I hadn't noticed Logan either." Rory turned to her mom, a little surprised.

"He came here with me. Drove up Ricky and me. I was talking to him just before grandma pulled me away. Maybe he's found a corner," Rory spoke, "Where's Luke?"

"He's at the bar. We hadn't been here five minutes before your grandpa cornered him and started talking about the diner and expansions again. I figured he needed a reprieve." Lorelai motioned in the direction of the bar.

"Well, this is turning out to be a classic Gilmore Thanksgiving," Rory commented, looking out at the crowd of people. "I should go find Ricky, make sure he's okay. And I should try and track down Logan. Hopefully he hasn't pulled some sort of vanishing act because otherwise I'm stranded." Rory moved towards the crowd.

"You're always welcome to stay with Luke and I if you did get ditched," Lorelai called after her daughter. Rory waved at her mom, acknowledging her words.

Rory quickly found Ricky, sitting on the couch where she had left him. She smiled at her son, wrapped up in a book. Her smile widened when she saw her grandfather sitting in a chair next to him. She had named her son after her grandfather. Aside from Luke, he was the only real father figure she'd ever known. Her mother's relationship with her father may have been strained at times, and Rory's relationship with her grandmother was similar, but Rory had always been able to count on Richard Gilmore. There hadn't been anyone else she'd thought of when she learned she was having a son.

"Everything okay, Ricky? You need something? Are you hungry?" Rory asked, sitting down next to her young son and rubbing soothing circles on his leg.

"I'm fine mom," Ricky responded, not looking up from his book.

"Dinner should be served in a few minutes," Richard Gilmore spoke at the same time, likewise not looking up from his book. Rory smiled at the pair before standing up. She'd located her son, checked in with him to make sure he was okay; she'd done her motherly duties for the moment and now she could go in search of her date.

She looked through every room in the large Gilmore mansion; she even looked in the bedrooms and bathrooms up the stairs. Years of experience of Gilmore shindigs had taught Rory that her grandmother kept the upstairs strictly off limits. This was a welcome fact as there had been several occasions throughout the year where Rory, or her mom, or sometimes the two of them together, had sought refuge in one of the vacant rooms. As she looked in each of the rooms, pausing briefly at the room she had stayed in as a teenager and young adult, Rory wondered if Logan had likewise desired respite.

The people downstairs were more Logan's crowd than they had ever been Rory's. he had grown up with those people, with these kinds of parties. Rory had spent her youth and many of her teen years not seeing her grandparents except for intimate family holiday dinners. Lorelai would never have brought Rory to a party like this before Rory got into Chilton. Logan should have been more comfortable than Rory, but that still didn't mean that one of her grandmother's friends hadn't managed to say just the wrong thing to Logan and send him looking for peace and quiet.

However, Rory had no success. She returned back to the party and tried to scope out the crowd without signalling someone else that she wanted to talk with them. It was a process that involved a lot of quick glances so as to not establish a prolonged moment of eye contact.

"You okay?" a slightly gruff voice asked. Instantly, Rory recognized it as belonging to her one constant father figure, Luke.

"I've lost my date. Grandma pulled me away from him to discuss something and he has since vanished. You haven't happened to see him, have you?" Rory asked, turning away from the crowd and towards Luke. Rory hadn't explicitly told Luke that she was dating Logan again, but she was 99% sure that her mother had filled him in.

"I saw him at the bar about twenty minutes ago. He seemed upset about something and ordered a scotch on the rocks." Rory turned to head to the bar before Luke spoke again. "He downed it in one gulp and then left the bar. Not sure where he got up to after that." Rory thanked her step-father-to-be and headed back into the crowd. She was getting a little frustrated at this hide-and-seek game.

* * *

Rory only became more frustrated and infuriated once dinner was served. Logan didn't show up to eat, clearly indicating that he had already left the party, leaving Rory and Ricky stranded at her grandparents' house. Rory sent Logan several texts and even called him a few times over the rest of the evening, but she didn't hear a peep from him.

"Maybe he got a call about some sort of business emergency and had to leave. Luke said he did look upset," Lorelai hedged. Rory was a little surprised to hear her mom defending Logan; Lorelai had never been his biggest fan.

"He should have come and found me if he had to leave. A heads up is all I want. I'm not upset that he left, just that he pulled a Houdini," Rory explained. She slumped down a little childishly in the passenger seat of Lorelai's jeep. With some sort of strange foresight (or maybe just the fact that Luke had to work late at the diner) Lorelai and Luke had taken separate cars to the Gilmore's. Luke and Ricky were in Luke's truck a few yards in front of them.

"You can talk to him in the morning. Straighten everything out," Lorelai said, chuckling at her daughter's childish antics. Rory turned to look out the window, not wanting to discuss the matter further. She'd had enough drama for one night. All Rory wanted at that moment was to crawl into bed, the same bed she'd slept in as a teen, and forget her life for a few hours.

"So, what did your grandma want to talk about anyway?" Lorelai asked. She hated sitting in the car in silence.

"It was nothing," Rory mumbled. She would have to tell her mom eventually, but right now, in the car after a truly terrible evening, just didn't seem like the right time.

"It's never nothing with Emily," Lorelai prodded. Rory sighed and sat up a little straighter. Apparently, she wasn't going to be offered a good time to tell this. Not if Lorelai had anything to say about it.

"Mom, before I tell you this, I don't want you to freak out. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time, keeping it a secret, but it has caused so many headaches and so much stress. And, Grandma found out so know I sort have to tell you or she certainly will." Rory rambled. She really had no idea how to break her secret, one that she'd kept for over a decade. It wasn't something you could easily just blurt out. Lorelai glanced at her daughter, a look of concern on her face. Rory took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"It's about Ricky's dad. I told you that he was basically a stranger but that wasn't really the truth. I've known who Ricky's father was the whole time, but I didn't want to tell anyone. It was a sticky, crazy situation and I thought that by saying I didn't know who it was, it wouldn't mess up the situation anymore." Rory took another steadying breath.

"Logan." Lorelai spoke before Rory could. She was a little taken aback by her mother's guess.

"How – how – how?" Rory couldn't even form the rest of her question. She'd been so careful! She'd kept everything to herself. She hadn't dropped so much as a hint. Her grandmother had only put it together when she saw Ricky and Logan standing right next to each other. How could her mother have known? How could her mother have kept the fact that she'd known about Logan from Rory for so long?

"It was pretty obvious Rory. Beside the fact that Ricky looks just like him, I know you. You are a relationship girl. I have never known you to do anything casual; hell, your relationship started out casual with Logan but that only lasted a few weeks. I knew as soon as you told me that you didn't really know who Ricky's father was that it was a lie. After that it was all just pretty simple math." Lorelai shrugged nonchalantly.

Rory couldn't believe that her mother seemed so indifferent about it all. This secret had been such a big concern for Rory over the past decade, one she had stressed over until she was nearly sick. And come to find out that her mother had known all along! Rory couldn't believe it. She slumped back down in her seat, not wanting to talk anymore. Here she'd been all worried about upsetting her mother and it was her mother who'd ended up upsetting her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Rory was upset at her mom for the remainder of the car ride back to Stars Hallow. Then, she realised she was being an idiot and that there was nothing to be mad at her mom over. Rory was the one who had kept the secret in the first place, she shouldn't be mad at her mother because she had chosen to help her daughter keep it.

After Rory got over herself, she had a truly enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend. Stars Hallow was always magical in and around Christmas time. The leaves in the trees were changing colour. There was a light dusting of snow, but not too much that it made it unpleasant to be outside. And people were usually in the midst of decorating for Christmas, so at night you could see a whole cornucopia of lights. Rory loved this time of year.

"That house has two Santa's? Why do they need two?" Ricky asked as he, Lorelai, and Rory walked through the streets of Stars Hallow to Luke's. It was the last night of the mini-vacation Rory had before she had to go back to work and Ricky had to go back to school. And, as per tradition, Rory had insisted on a burger at Luke's. Lorelai had been the one to suggest walking there and seeing all the lights that had been strung up. However, Rory was a little distracted. She still hadn't heard hide nor hair from Logan and was now obsessively checking her phone every other minute to make sure she didn't miss anything.

"Maybe they think it will double the amount of times Santa visits them," Lorelai responded when it looked like Rory wouldn't be. Ricky just looked at his grandmother with a look on incredulity. Had Rory not been distracted by her phone and its lack of activity, she would have mentioned to her mother that he son had stopped believing in Santa two years ago. He'd read that Santa Claus wasn't a real person who travelled around the world in one night visiting countless millions of children, that it was impossible, and he had believed it right away.

"What do you want for Christmas?" Lorelai tried again, attempting to change the current unsuccessful line of conversation.

"I've got a list of books. I can send you a copy if you want, grandma," Ricky responded. They were in sight of Luke's and, after he had spoken, Ricky ran towards the building. Lorelai hung back with Rory, who was still distracted and walking at what was almost a snail's pace.

"What's got your nose stuck to your phone?" Lorelai asked her daughter. Rory didn't respond, she didn't even look up from her phone. With an exasperated sigh, Lorelai grabbed her daughter's phone and stuck it in her pocket. "Have you even heard what's been going on for the past twenty minutes?"

Rory looked up at her mom, a little dazed, then looked around her to gather her bearings. "When did we get to Luke's?" Rory asked. However, she didn't wait for her mom to respond. She just walked into the diner to join her son. Lorelai chuckled at her daughter and shook her head in slight exasperation before she too followed them in.

* * *

Rory walked into Luke's and looked around for her son. He had taken up a seat at the counter and was animatedly talking to the man who was seated beside him. As Rory moved closer, she realised the man was Jess. Unconsciously, a smile broke across her face at the sight of him.

"Jess! It's good to see you again!" Rory exclaimed. Only afterwards did she wonder if she'd come across as too eager. That thought made her flush red and she immediately tried to hide it by grabbing up a menu. It was a poor excuse as she had memorized the menu years ago.

"You two Rory. Home for the holiday?" Jess pushed back on his seat a little to face Rory.

"Yeah. We had grandma's dinner on Thursday, and Ricky and I stayed here for the rest of the weekend. When did you get into town?" Rory, feeling the blush on her cheeks lessen, lowered the menu and slide into the seat on the other side of Ricky.

"A few hours ago. I spent Thanksgiving with my mom, TJ, and Doula. It was quite the adventure," Jess chuckled himself as he reminisced about whatever antics Liz and TJ had gotten up to.

"You staying long?" Rory asked. Her mother had joined her, Jess, and Ricky at the counter and was waving around a napkin to try and attract Luke's attention. The object of her strange napkin dance was currently in a deep conversation on the phone, probably with a supplier, and wasn't even glancing in their direction.

"Leaving tomorrow. Is your mom having a fit?" Jess asked his question under his breath, not wanting Lorelai to overhear it.

"No. Mom just hasn't eaten today. She was busy setting up the house for Christmas with Ricky and we kind of lost track of time. She's been starving for hours and has been letting us know about it." Rory didn't mention the fact that she would have reminded her mother and son to eat, but she'd had her face glued to her phone.

"Well," Jess said, slipping off his chair and heading behind the counter, "I think I still remember how to take an order." Jess pulled out a pad from beneath the counter and turned to face Lorelai. "What can I get you?"

Just at that moment, Luke got off the phone and came over to his nephew. "What are you doing? Get out from behind here," Luke said, gently shoving the younger male out of the way. Jess feigned an arm injury before he returned to his seat beside Rory. For her part, she couldn't stop the wide, ridiculous smile that spread across her face at the playful family scene. Her phone, the thing that had been distracting her all weekend, was completely forgotten.

* * *

When Rory returned to work on Monday, she wished she could return to that last evening at Luke's. It was like that night had been a fairy tale and walking into the New York Times office's was her rude awakening. Over the weekend, and all the worrying she about Logan spending time with Ricky, her grandmother discovering her secret, Logan vanishing, having to tell her mom a secret she already knew, and then wondering where Logan had vanished off too, the state of her article had completely slipped her mind.

But she was reminded of it as soon as she walked in the door. Miranda was waiting for her at her desk, arms crossed, and a look of frustrated anger clearly displayed through her clenched teeth, tight jaw, and squinted eyebrows.

"A word, Ms. Gilmore. If you're not too busy," Miranda spoke the words with a venom and slight sarcasm. It made Rory feel like she was getting at something, though what that something was, she wasn't quite sure.

"Yeah. Just let me drop my bag off at my desk," Rory spoke. Miranda gave her an annoyed look, like she thought Rory dropping off her heavy bag was a waste of time. Rory disagreed. She still hadn't gotten over her habit of always carrying several books with her and it made her bag extremely heavy, especially when she also filled it with folders of source material and excerpts for her articles.

Not five minutes later, Rory was in Miranda's office, sitting stiffly in the proffered chair and watching Miranda pace backwards and forwards behind her desk. Rory was forced to bite her tongue to not make a comment about who was wasting time now. She knew this was a powerplay, that Miranda was trying to show Rory that she was in charge and therefore the only one of the two of them who could waste the other's time.

"So, how's it going with your story on Huntzberger Enterprises. I'd expected an update, even an outline, by now but it has been radio silence from you. Which I found odd because you've been out of the office so often as of late. I had assumed you were meeting with sources and doing investigative work, but if I can't see your results, I might think you were handling personal business during working hours, which is a very serious infraction of your contract." Miranda had stopped pacing and was, instead, staring Rory dead in the eye.

"I'm still working on it. Trying to nail down some more details. I'm waiting to hear back from my source, but I can definitely have what I've got to you by the end of the week." Rory returned Miranda's stare, confidently looking her boss right in the eye. However, she did not feel the confidence at all. She'd basically just lied to Miranda; she didn't have any details and hadn't heard from her alleged source in two weeks. But hopefully Miranda wouldn't pick up on that.

"You'd better," was all Miranda said before waving dismissively at the door. Rory took it as her cue to leave and did just that. She didn't need to be told twice. She left the office and hurried back to her desk where she collapsed into a heap.

'What am I going to do?' Rory asked, burying her head in her hands and letting out a frustrated groan. Luckily, most of her nearby desk mates were out of the area at that moment and so no one heard her. She was just so frustrated at herself and couldn't contain it within in. She'd lied to her boss and if she couldn't at least piece something together by Friday, she was pretty sure Miranda would fire her.

'How can I pull this off? I have nothing. Less than nothing because I have a supposed source that won't contact me back!' Another frustrated sigh escaped Rory's lips and she sat back in her seat.

"Yeah. A whole weekend with the family can be rough," a chipper voice said from Rory's right. She turned in her chair to see a very smiley Zoe standing only a few feet away.

"My weekend was actually pretty awesome. Walking into work today, though, that's another story. Miranda called me into her office before I'd even really set foot in the building and then proceeded to imply that if I didn't show her progress on my story by the end of the week that she'd have me fired." Rory raked her hand through her hair in frustration. Zoe smiled ruefully at Rory as she moved to sit on the corner of her desk.

"Okay. So, we'll just have to work overtime on your story and get it done. No big deal. I've seen you work under harsher deadlines before," Zoe patted Rory encouragingly on the shoulder, but it was wholly ineffective.

"Except I have nothing to write. My source keeps dodging me, my interview with Logan went nowhere helpful for the story, and I haven't gotten any other information from any of the research that I've done. I can't write this story by Friday if I have nothing to put in it!" Rory felt tears begin to pool in her eyes and she tried to keep them at bay.

"Move over," Zoe said as she hopped down off the desk and pushed Rory's chair aside with her hip. "Where's the info you have on your source?" Zoe asked as she typed on Rory's computer. Rory pointed it out and, once Zoe had it located, she quickly typed it into a people searching software they had. After a few seconds, an informational box popped up with Olivia's address. Zoe quickly printed it out and then pranced over to the printer to pick it up.

"If your source won't come to you, then you need to go to your source!" Zoe said, handing Rory the paper. Rory looked a little skeptical. It felt a little bit like an invasion of privacy to show up at Olivia's house and demand answers. "Look, she reached out to you first. And she must have done it for a reason. Go. Push. Figure out why she reached out to you and what information she has. Be the badass reporter I know you to be!" Zoe then pulled Rory up out of her chair and began pushing her towards the door.

* * *

Rory stood at the door to the apartment. It was quite upscale, though Rory wasn't sure why that fact surprised her. Huntzberger Enterprises was a multi-million dollar company; working for it probably paid pretty handsomely.

Rory took a deep breath and then walked up to the doorman. "I'm here to visit Olivia Newell please. She's not expecting me but we're old friends. I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop in." She'd rehearsed her cover story the whole trip over, but she hadn't been able to come up with anything better. The doorman looked at her skeptically, but still let her in and buzzed up to Olivia's apartment.

"Hello?" a slightly metallic voice sounded through the speakers.

"You have a visitor, Ms. Newell. She says she's an old friend," the doorman said. His tone was professional, but Rory still picked up on the doubt he was telegraphing. She hoped Olivia wouldn't ask too many questions. If Rory was going to get the answers she needed, she would need to talk to Olivia in person and the best way to do that now would be to get to her door and ambush her.

"Oh great! Send her up!" Olivia chimed. Rory couldn't believe her luck. Either Olivia had been expecting a friend to visit, or she wasn't suspicious enough. Whichever way it was, Rory wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She nodded appreciatively at the doorman and then hurried towards the elevator. A short ride later, and a walk down what had to be the longest hallway Rory had ever seen, Rory found herself in front of Olivia's door. She knocked and waited.

"Hello-oh," Olivia said as she opened the door and saw exactly which 'old friend' had stopped by.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

"What are you doing here?" Olivia asked. Rory thought it was a good sign that she hadn't slammed the door shut in her face immediately upon seeing her. She attributed most of that to shock. Olivia, Rory's source, hadn't been expecting to see the reporter on her doorstep and, when she did, she didn't know what to do next and simply froze. However, Rory knew that her reprieve would be brief.

Rory stuck her foot discretely into the path of the door to stop it if Olivia tried to close it. Then she answered Olivia's question, trying to phrase it in the most inviting way possible. "I came here to talk to you. You've haven't been responding to my messages and I was worried. I looked you up in our system; that's how I got your address."

"And you just showed up at my door? Isn't this like some invasion? I think you should leave," Olivia spoke. Her shock was wearing off and her indignation was beginning to show through. Rory was glad that she'd slid her foot into the door because Olivia had tried to punctuate her statement by closing the door. However, Olivia didn't try very hard and the door just sort of bounced of Rory's foot.

"You were the one who reached out to me, Olivia. You sought me out and then you left me hanging. You've been dodging my calls, not responding to my emails, essentially ghosting me. Now, if you hadn't been the one to initiate all of this, I would understand, but I can't figure out what is going on here. I'm tired of playing this game so, yes, I looked you up and showed up here. I will not be jerked around anymore!" Rory felt her indignation flare even more intensely than Olivia's had. It was partly because she had nothing on her story and this girl, who'd been messing with her, was her last hope. It was partly just the fact that Olivia had come to her and then gotten cold feet and that was extremely annoying.

"Yeah well, I have the right to change my mind," Olivia responded. She tried to sound offended, but it came out more like false bravado.

"I don't think that changing your mind is all that is going on right now, Olivia. If someone is intimidating you or something, I want you to know that confidentiality is extremely important to me. Your name or any association to you besides 'confidential informant' will not leak out. You have my word," Rory spoke. Her anger that she'd been experiencing only moments before had abated. Olivia's false bravado had made it clear that there was more to the whole situation than just a difficult source.

Olivia seemed to register Rory's words. Her whole body seemed to relax a little. With a quick glance into the apartment, and then a second quick glance around the hallway, Olivia seemed to arrive at a decision. "Okay, you can come in and talk. But if anyone finds out that I am the one that told you this, I could lose by job and that would devastate every part of my life." Rory nodded in agreement and then followed Olivia inside.

It was a nice apartment, better decorated and styled than Rory's. she would have liked to blame her messy, eclectic apartment on the fact that she had a son. However, Ricky had never been a messy child and the state of her apartment was completely a result of Rory. Sometimes she wished she could have an apartment like Olivia's.

"Do you want some coffee?" Olivia asked, drawing Rory out of her musings. She nodded, never one to turn down coffee. Olivia quickly busied herself with making coffee while Rory sat down at the small, white oak table in the kitchen. It was obvious that Olivia was nervous; her hands were shaking a little as she poured the French press coffee into two cups.

"How do you take it?" Olivia asked, a slight hitch in her voice. Rory hoped that she wasn't destroying this poor girl's life for the sake of her story.

"Just black," Rory responded. She wanted to ask Olivia if she could tape the interview, but she hesitated. This whole situation seemed so messed up and Rory decided that, the least amount of evidence she had on Olivia, like not having her voice on tape, the less likely it would be that Olivia could be outted.

Once the coffee was ready, and Olivia had no further excuse to not sit down by Rory, the woman took a deep breath and did just that. The two sat at the kitchen table sipping their hot coffee for several minutes. Rory didn't want to pry; she'd already essentially forced herself into Olivia's house. There was no need, and most likely no benefit, for pushing her any further. Instead, Rory simply waited. She knew Olivia would talk when she felt like it.

With one final breath, and one long drag of coffee, Olivia opened up. "Huntzberger Enterprises looks extremely prosperous on paper. It has rather quickly gained a lot of money from investors and has been making them all a pretty decent profit. It's been a rocket-quick rise, and, to outside eyes, it looks like there's no stopping the company. But all of it is a lie.

"Huntzberger Enterprises hasn't made any money. All of the investors are paid out by obtaining new investors. There's no other capital. It's all a Ponzi scheme. And the reason the company is structured like that is because the product we've been touting, this magical device that no one is really sure what it does, doesn't exist. It is a drawing on paper, but nothing else.

"The company didn't start off like that. Logan really thought this thing would work; he really believed in it. It was at that time when a lot of us came on. He had such a passionate belief in the company that he won me over. But, after about a year and several thousands of dollars in r & d, it turned out that this thing that Logan envisioned, this magical technological product that was supposed to make life on the internet so much easier, was not possible at our current level of understanding. It would take millions of dollars to even get an idea of how to go about doing it.

"investors don't tend to give money for pipe dreams and maybes, so Logan and some of the other executives decided to lie a little bit, to say that this product was farther along than it really was, that we were only months away from going into production. They figured that if they could just get the funding for the research, eventually they would have this amazing product that would be worth at least one hundred times more than they'd gathered from investors. And maybe that is the case, but as things stand right now, there's no product and no real profits."

Olivia had spilled this great secret in what seemed like one long breath. She had talked quickly, obviously nervous about what she was saying and just wanting to say it before she could think about it too much. Rory had a hard time jotting down everything, but she didn't want to ask Olivia to go over it again. Instead, she wrote down as much as she could.

"So, it's all a lie?" Rory asked for clarification, a hard rock settling in her stomach. What had she uncovered? What would it mean for Logan? For her relationship? For her son?

* * *

Rory left Olivia's apartment shortly after the other woman had confessed all that she knew. She walked back to the Time's offices in a bit of a daze, playing over everything she had just learned. It was a little hard to believe, but not entirely. Logan had been known to get excited about business ventures and not do all of his due-diligence or the work involved in setting it up properly. Then, when he found himself underwater, he tried to fix the situation and cover up his wrong doings without coming clean for his mistakes.

Maybe the same thing had played out here, but on a much larger, much more impactful scale. Now that Rory had some sort of idea of where to look, she could do some investigating on her own, talk to some of the investors and look at the corporate paperwork for Huntzberger Enterprises.

When she sat back down at her desk, she was a completely different Rory. Where before she had been hopeless and defeated, now she felt renewed. She could do this, accomplish this impossible task that Miranda had set for her. Her fingers began to fly across her keyboard as inspiration struck.

She typed up what Olivia had said, taking her quickly scribbled down notes and filling them in with detail, giving each sentence life. Once she'd gotten all of that out of her mind and onto her computer, she set to verifying it all. She quickly, and with a skill she'd honed over years of grunt work, filed off a few FOI requests, hoping that it wouldn't take too long to get the documentation. She knew that she wouldn't be lucky enough to find a document with incriminating information, but if there were enough holes, omissions, and coverups she could definitely bolster Olivia's information.

She hit send on the requests and then spent the rest of the day doing a little more internet sleuthing. The first time she'd looked through everything, she didn't have an angle. Potential criminal activity was a wide net and she hadn't managed to catch any fish with it. Now that she knew she was looking for fraud, she could narrow down her search and see if she could pick up on even the softest of whispers.

Finally, it seemed, like this story, and maybe even her life, was no longer spinning but heading in a forward direction.

* * *

The few weeks after Thanksgiving flew by for Rory. It usually went this way, when she was in the depths of a story. Time just flew by without her really being aware of it. Before she knew it, Ricky was asking to go see Santa and providing her with his list of Christmas gifts. 'Was it really that close to Christmas already?' Rory wondered as she looked at the list of books that her son was asking for.

She'd just that morning submitted a very rough draft of what she'd uncovered to Miranda, hoping it would keep her from breathing fire down her back. She still had to wait a few more weeks before she got any of the documents she'd requested so her story was as far as it would go for the time being. Now, she had a moment's peace to worry about her personal life.

And it needed a bit of worrying.

Aside from the rapidly approaching holiday and the fact that she hadn't even put up a tree or any decorations, she'd been neglecting everything that wasn't her story. She hadn't made any further plans with her mother about the wedding that was only a few months away. She knew that her mother was perfectly capable of planning a wedding on her own, but Rory was taking her maid of honour role very seriously and she felt like she was letting her mother down. Then there was the fact that she hadn't so much as received a message from Logan. He'd vanished at her grandparents' party ad hadn't made any appearance or anything else since then. While she was working on her story, she hadn't noticed the passage of time, but now that she had a break, a moment, she realised how strange it truly was.

Sure, they weren't in a definite, clearly defined relationship. She wasn't his girlfriend and she most certainly didn't consider him her boyfriend. That being said, she did expect him to at least reach out to her, especially after his Houdini act. She'd sent a few text messages, inquiring about what had happened, where he'd gone, what was going on with him, but hadn't received a response. Maybe this was his less than mature way of saying he no longer wanted to have any sort of relationship with her. Maybe he was ghosting her, or whatever it was called.

Rory let that thought roll around in her mind for a brief second before she pushed it away. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that. If Logan was out of their whatever they had, then that was too bad for him. She had her family, her mom, her son, Luke, and her friends. They were her concern, especially at this time of year.

With a new sense of determination, Rory quickly began gathering her things, her bag, her keys, Ricky's list, and headed out the door. If she was failing in all other aspects of her personal life, at least she could make her son happy.

"Ms. Gilmore?" a voice asked off to her right as soon as Rory made it down to the street. She was a little taken aback; strangers didn't usually call out to her. She turned slowly, her hand dipping into her purse to try and find something she could use to defend herself. She saw a young bike messenger, his helmet on his head and his bike leaning against him. Rory felt a slight sense of relief but was still curious about how a bike messenger knew who she was.

"Can I help you?" she asked, not moving closer, but taking her hand out of her bag.

"I'm looking for a Ms. Rory Gilmore. I have a package for her," he said, motioning to the bag attached to the side of his bike.

"I'm Rory Gilmore," she responded. The bike messenger nodded and then reached into his bag.

"You've been served," he said as he handed over a manila envelope.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Rory looked down at the manila envelope in her hands. 'Served?' she asked herself. She hadn't done anything illegal, though she didn't think criminals were served; they were arrested. Serving usually involved compelling someone to appear in court. Who would need her in court?

Realising that the only way she would get answers to her question was to open it, Rory slipped her finger under the envelope flap and slid it along, tearing it open. She pulled out the papers enclosed within and began to read through them. When she got to the words, to the answer to her questions, Rory dropped the papers, scattering them to the wind. She momentarily thought about chasing after them, they may be important and contain information that she would need, but she was far too stunned to move a single muscle.

Rory had been served with custody papers. Somehow, Logan had discovered her deepest, darkest secret and was coming after her for it. He was asking for a paternity test on Ricky to confirm whether or not he was Logan's son and then, if it was true, he was seeking custody. And not just any custody. The papers that were drifting away from Rory on the breeze were for full custody, claiming that Rory's penchant for lying, among other things that Rory couldn't believe Logan would ever accuse her of, made her an unfit mother.

'Logan wants to take Ricky away from me? He doesn't even know Ricky! How can he possibly think that he can raise my son?' Overwhelmed by emotion, Rory felt herself crouching down towards the pavement and wrapping her arms tightly around herself. Of all the scenarios she had played out in her mind of what could happen if her secret got out, this wasn't even among her worst cases. She could never have imagined this. This was sole crushing and life destroying.

Rory could feel the people walking by her, staring questioningly at her, wondering what was going on with her. None of them stopped to ask, of course. This was New York. People in essentially the fetal position were not a regular occurrence but they also weren't the strangest thing that you could possibly encounter in the city.

Rory almost felt like laying down on the sidewalk, she was that miserable and out of sorts. Some small voice in the back of her mind, however, stopped her from doing that. Instead, she stood back up and walked the few meters back to her buildings front stoop. The stairs were a little less dirty and disgusting than the street. Plus, it was a little less pathetic to sit on your front stoop than to sit in the middle of the sidewalk.

She plopped down on the cool concrete and dropped her head into her hands. She wanted to try and figure out her next steps, what she was going to do about all of this, but her brain wasn't functioning well enough to do anything like that. Instead, she needed to wallow in the moment, to allow the enormity of the news and the scale of her emotions about it to really overwhelm her. Her mother had once taught her about the importance of wallowing and feeling your emotions. It wasn't healthy to bottle everything up.

So, Rory sat there for what felt like an eternity but was probably more accurately only 10 minutes. When it had at last sunk in and become real to Rory, she could finally begin to process the next steps. How would she tackle this? What did she need to do? Did she need to get a lawyer? Could Logan really take her son from her?

As the questions rattled around in her head, one emotion bubbled up to the surface more than any other. Rage. Absolute, unadulterated rage. Rage at Logan who, behind her back and without talking to her about anything, decided that he wanted to be a part of Ricky's life. No, not a part of it, his whole life. How dare he!

Fueled by the anger that coursed through her veins, Rory stood from the stoop, marched to the edge of the street, and hailed a cab.

* * *

Rory was still riding the high of her righteous anger as the cab pulled up to the sleek brownstone. She'd never been to Logan's place before, but it was exactly what she'd pictured when she'd thought of it. Immaculate front garden and entryway, a little pretentious, and obviously a clear indication of his wealth. The sight of it just further fueled her outrage.

After paying the cabbie, which involved Rory more or less throwing her bills at the poor man, she stomped up the front staircase and began banging on the large wooden door. She glimpsed a doorbell out of the corner of her eye, but her anger made pounding on the door feel like the more appropriate way of alerting Logan to her presence. It took several minutes, a period of time in which Rory momentarily contemplated whether ringing the bell would have been the better more efficient choice. Finally, a rather annoyed Logan opened the door.

"What?" he snapped as he pulled the door open. Rory hadn't been expecting such an abrupt motion and proceeded to knock her hand against Logan's chest, which she didn't feel completely guilty about. It also seemed that Logan hadn't been expecting to find that Rory was the person annoyingly and incessantly banging was her. He paled slightly and rubbed the back of his neck a little awkwardly.

"Sorry," he muttered at the same time that Rory muttered it as well. The pair stood awkwardly in the doorway for a few seconds before she remembered why she was there in the first place.

"I came here to talk to you about this!" Rory suddenly exclaimed, shoving what remained of the papers she had been served with into Logan's chest. He stumbled back a little, a combination of surprise and the force that Rory used. "How could you Logan! You don't even know him, and you want to take him away from me! Why? What have I ever done to you? This is just cruel!"

"How could I? How could you? I don't know him because you kept him from me for ten years! That's what is cruel!" Logan shouted back. He looked around his neighbourhood, at the people walking down the street and glancing at the pair of them, and then pulled Rory into the brownstone by her wrist. She really didn't want to go with him, something about having the quick escape of turning on her heel felt comforting, but she also didn't protest it.

"I wanted to tell you. I'd even prepared a whole speech but when I went to find you, I found your fiancée too. You'd moved on so quickly; we'd only broken up a few months before and there you were already preparing to marry someone. I didn't want to pull you away from that, and I knew I could raise Ricky on my own with my mom's support, so I chose not to tell you. It was my decision to make and now that I see how you react to knowing you have a son, I wholeheartedly believe I made the right decision. You want to take Ricky away from me because I'm 'a bad mother?' because I didn't tell you about him? What makes you think you can raise a child anyway?"

"I think I could be just as good a parent as you are. And I wouldn't lie to a child or keep a thing as big as his father from him. Plus, you had sole custody of him for ten years, without my say in the matter. At least I'm giving you the chance to plead your case," Logan retorted.

Rory stood in front of him, open-mouthed. His argument was so illogical and immature she couldn't believe it. Was he really saying that it was essentially his turn to have Ricky, like he was a toy, or a car, or a timeshare? She could see that there would be no reasoning with Logan and arguing with him would only make her feel worse, like banging her head against a wall. Instead of wasting another second of her time, Rory turned on her heel and stormed out of the house. She vowed silently that Logan would not get sole custody of her son, not if she had anything to say about it.

Rory's feet carried her down the well-manicured streets without her mind really having to do too much work. Like other times she had become distressed, she followed her instincts and ended up at the train station, buying a ticket to visit her mother. With her mental faculties returning, she also quickly texted her babysitter asking her to pick up Ricky and take of him for the evening. It had happened before that a story had suddenly called her away for a day or two and she had found an amazing woman who was willing to take of Ricky on a moment's notice.

With her son taken care of, Rory sat back and enjoyed the trip. She smiled at herself a little as she tried to count the number of times, she'd sat on this train over the past three months and, for a brief flash of a moment, wondered if she shouldn't just move back to Stars Hallow. Then she could easily turn to her mother whenever her life was falling apart. But, as she realised all the other things, she would have to change in order to make that a reality, she quickly let that thought go. Her life was in New York, and Stars Hallow was not that far by train.

* * *

Rory got off the train and thought that maybe she really should have texted her mother. It was just a little past noon and Rory was sure her mother would still be at work at the Dragon Fly. She could stop in there and hope that Lorelai wasn't too busy, but her mom was notorious for doing more work at the inn than she needed too. Alternatively, as it was fairly close to lunch, there was a significant possibility that her mom was at Luke's. Deciding that she, too was hungry, Rory headed to Luke's to look for her mom. If she couldn't find Lorelai there, she would still get some food and then make her way over to the Dragon Fly.

Rory hailed a cab from the train station and made her way over to the diner. As the car drove along the wooded roads, Rory's mind returned to earlier that day. She began to dwell once again on the anger-inducing events that had led her to retreat back home. The anger that she had managed to quell with help of the calming sounds and motions of the train bubbled up once more and she felt it building in her chest, restricting her lungs and making her breathe harsh and shallow.

By the time Rory pulled up in front of Luke's diner, she was once again incensed, her teeth clenched tightly together, and her hands balled in firm fists. The cab driver gave her a strange look but didn't say anything, obviously worried that Rory would lash out at him. Instead, he quickly pulled away as soon as Rory had closed the door behind her. Rory, barely registering the car, marched up the small steps to the diner and flung open the door.

She'd really expected to find her mother sitting there, enjoying lunch with her fiancé as she did on several occasions. However, Rory found an almost empty diner. There were only a few people at two tables in the back, nursing coffees and having a low discussion. Rory's abrupt entry quickly drew their attention to the door, and she began to feel a little silly and sheepish. She gave them what she hoped was an apologetic nod and then hurried over to the counter. Her anger, which seemed to be extremely volatile, had evaporated at the awkwardness in the room and all Rory wanted in that moment was to disappear behind a menu.

She quickly grabbed one and, despite knowing exactly what was contained within the plasticly pages, buried her head in it. She wasn't exactly disappearing, but much as she had as a kid, she figured if she couldn't see the thing that was distressing her, in this case the stares of the other patrons, they couldn't see her. Rory felt like she'd sat there for several long minutes, at least ten, and the paranoia that the people were still staring at her mounted.

"Hey Rory! Long time!" a jovial, easily recognizable voice spoke from the other side of the counter. Rory looked up into the cheerful face of Jess Mariano and it was like a dam broke. The anger, the embarrassment, the stress of the story, the paranoia, all came flooding out of her in the form of big, wet tears that rapidly cascaded down her face.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Rory had no control over her emotions at that moment. The overwhelming nature of everything that was going on in her life made it so that she could no more stop the tears currently cascading down her face than she could change the weather outside the diner. She felt like a fool, felt humiliated and ashamed, but still she continued to sit on the stool in the diner she had grown up in experiencing her breakdown in clear view of the town.

"Hey, hey, hey. Are you okay? Come here. Come this way," Jess, his tone betraying the fact that he found the situation a little awkward, came around the counter and to her side. He placed a hand gently on her back and slowly began to lead her towards the stairs that led upstairs, to the small apartment that Luke lived in. He settled her onto the worn, but still plush couch, wrapping a blanket around her, before he headed back downstairs to the restaurant below.

Rory assumed that he would leave her alone, let her cry herself out in the privacy of the apartment. Once she had her emotions under control, then she expected she would go back downstairs and rejoin him, and probably have to give some sort of explanation for her strange behaviour. However, Rory was only alone for about two minutes before Jess reappeared.

"Okay. I've closed up the shop for now. what can I do to help you?" Jess asked, walking quickly to her side. He stood there, a little awkwardly, obviously asking for a suggestion about what he was to do in this situation. Rory, as much as she wanted to, was unable to offer him such a suggestion. She didn't know what she needed in that moment, besides a good, long cry. Sometimes that was all that a person needed when the old became overwhelming; to just feel the emotions and process them that way.

"Yo-you di-di-didn't ne-need to do th-that," Rory stuttered out. It was the best she could do, absolve him of his obvious need to help and send him back to the diner where he could actually be useful. However, despite her somewhat incoherent prodding, Jess didn't leave. Eventually, he seemed to relax a little and accept the fact that Rory just needed to cry, and he took a seat in a chair across from her.

Having Jess relax made it a little easier for Rory to relax and eventually get control over herself. After about five minutes of bawling and snorting and generally looking and acting like a complete basket case, her tears finally began to slow. She didn't stop crying completely, but she got to a point where she could talk once again.

She took a deep breath before beginning her explanation, "I'm so sorry about that. I- I don't really know what came over me. It's just been a hard couple of weeks and today was the awful terrible appalling cherry on top of all of it. And something about the familiarity of Luke's and hearing you just set me off. Like I knew this was a safe place to completely lose my mind." She smiled up at Jess hoping that he understood some of the compliment she was trying to pay him. He was a safe space for her; she could cry in front of him and he wouldn't judge her for it or apparently, run immediately for the hills.

He remained stoic so Rory wasn't sure if he realised she was giving him a compliment, if he didn't care, or if he was too worried that any reaction on his part would set her off again.

"I should probably get going," Rory spoke after several seconds of fairly companionable silence. She still felt a little uncomfortable in Jess' presence after having so fully lost control of herself and really wanted to find her mom and console herself with the company if Lorelai Gilmore.

Jess nodded at Rory and stood, offering a hand to help steady her should she need it. Luckily, Rory had wrangled her emotions enough that she no longer needed support, physical or emotional, from Jess. She quickly walked down the stairs, into the empty restaurant and out onto the street.

* * *

Rory wandered the streets of Stars Hallow, not exactly aimlessly. She had a point, a destination. Eventually, she wanted to get to the Dragonfly Inn and her mother. She just wasn't concerned with getting their in a very direct manner. Stars Hallow had always been a safe place, a place where only good things happened. Rory figured, at it may not have been true but it was definitely her impression, that bad things only happened when she left Stars Hallow. When she went to Chilton, when she went to Yale, when she went to live with her grandparents in Hartford, those were the times when bad things happened. She had brought those bad things into Stars Hallow, but nothing bad ever started in Stars Hallow.

Because of that, Rory wanted to savour her moment, to soak in that sense of safety and security. She wanted to wander amongst that sense and make herself feel like everything, despite it seeming like it was falling apart, was going to be okay. She would find a way to stop Logan's afront, keep Ricky, and return to the state her life had been before she'd been given this story. It had been a life-changing story, Rory had recognized that fact in the moment, but she hadn't realised in just what ways it would change her life.

Finally, after about an hour of wandering, Rory finally made it to her mother's inn. It was the image of cute, comfortable, country inn. Perfection, in Rory's totally biased opinion. She walked up the steps and turned to the front desk, expecting to see either her mother, or her mother's long-time friend and college Michele, standing behind it. Instead, she was met with the cheerful face of a total stranger.

"Hello! Welcome to the Dragonfly. How can I help you today?" the chipper young woman asked, her voice almost annoyingly high pitched. Rory glowered at her for a moment before turning and heading into the inn. Aside from this stranger at the desk, everyone knew who Rory was and allowed her to wander around unaccosted. However, the strange felt that Rory obviously shouldn't be allowed to wander around and quickly came around the desk and began to slowly chase after her.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry. Only guests are permitted-" the young woman began to warn Rory off of her current course, but Rory had been through far too much to suffer fools and she quickly turned on the poor girl and gave her the most withering stair imaginable. She didn't say anything to the girl, just turned back on her heel and continued on her way.

The front desk girl whimpered a little but still kept close on Rory's heel. The young Gilmore wondered if something had happened that made this girl so persistent to keep Rory away from the guest and staff only areas. When Rory walked from the dining area into the kitchen, the girl let out an even louder whimper that had Rory turning back to her.

"You don't have to follow me. I know where I'm going and I promise I won't move a table or something," Rory spoke before turning into the kitchen. A smile broke across her face as she saw her mom, steaming cup of coffee in hand, talking animatedly to Sookie as the other woman prepped for the upcoming dinner time.

"Mom," Rory said, relief colouring her voice. Lorelai looked up from her coffee and concern crossed her visage as she took in Rory's face. Like a little girl, Rory rushed to her mom, embraced her tightly, and felt a few tears welling up in her eyes. Not wanting a repeat of Luke's, Rory forced herself to hold them back and just hugged her mother tighter.

"Rory! What is going on?" Lorelai asked. As Rory finally released her mother, Sookie appeared at her elbow and pushed a cup of coffee into her hands. Rory loved coming home; the people here knew her so well. The feeling of warmth enveloped Rory and gave her the strength to reveal to her mom the source of her strange behaviour.

"Logan found out about Ricky and is suing for full custody."

* * *

As soon as Lorelai found out about the flaming pile of shit that was Rory's life at the current moment, her mother went into crisis mode. Lorelai instructed Rory to come home, to come back to Stars Hallow at least for the time being. Rory, figuring that there were only two weeks left until Christmas break and Ricky was smart enough that missing two weeks wouldn't negatively impact anything, took him out of school and did just that. She returned to her childhood bedroom, Ricky sleeping on a trundle bed that Lorelai had bought a million years ago for Rory's half-sister.

It was a relief, returning to the small town where around every corner was a sense of comfort and not a terrible, awful surprise. For the first time in a quite a few weeks Rory felt like her feet were on solid ground. Her problems, as large and insurmountable as they'd seemed in New York now at least looked like something she could try to take on. They wouldn't be easy, but at least she could figure out a starting place for the climb.

Her story for the New York Times was the least of her worries. The quiet of Star's Hallow, Luke cooking her dinner, and her mother entertaining her son on the rare occasions he pulled his nose from a book all allowed Rory countless hours of time to write her exposé. Fueled by her anger and indignation, the story that would destroy not only Huntzberger Enterprises, but the reputation of Logan flowed easily.

Dealing with the lawsuit was a bigger problem, but Lorelai's calm, rationality allowed Rory to see the fact that, even when Logan proved that Ricky was his son, Rory was not a terrible mother and the most the courts would grant Logan was shared custody. Lorelai was convinced that he wouldn't even get primary custody as he hadn't spent any time with the boy in the last ten years. Luke was also surprisingly helpful in the conversation as he had been in exactly the same situation with his daughter April.

Their perspectives made this unpleasantness seem like something that Rory could take on and end up only minimally injured. Finally, Rory began feeling a little bit of the Christmas spirit. Maybe her life wasn't as shit-on-fire-y as she thought it was. Maybe these were all small blips that in a few years' time she'd be able to look back on and laugh. At least, that was the perspective Lane was trying to get Rory to see.

"Things will work out fine, they always do," Lane said as she sipped her wine. Rory gave her friend an incredulous look but didn't say anything. Instead, she sipped her wine as well and took in the chaos that surrounded her. It was Christmas Eve eve, December 23rd, and Lane's living room looked like a tornado had rampaged through a Christmas store. There were decorations, wrapped gifts, bits of left over wrapping paper, drumsticks and guitar picks, sports equipment, and random bits of clothing spread across every available surface.

Lane's twins were only a year and a bit older than Ricky and apparently going through a football, baseball, and soccer phase. Rory, whose son was so similar to her, found it a little odd that Lane's boys were so different to both their parents; Lane seemed to be at peace with the fact that neither Kwan nor Steve had a musical bone in their body but excelled at all their athletic endeavours.

"Yes well, that's easy for you to say. No one's trying to take away your boys," Rory finally responded. She wasn't in an argumentative mood, but her mind couldn't help but being contrary. This was such a big deal that Rory couldn't wave it away with platitudes and a belief that the universe was inherently good.

"Honestly," Lane spoke. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "I don't know if I would mind that at the moment. A break from the all-Americans would be nice. Raising boys, and sporty boys on top of that, is so out of my depth." Lane then flitted her gaze towards the kitchen were her twin sons were hungrily emptying the fridge. Rory chuckled at her friend, but still felt a tightening in her chest. She wasn't out of her depth with Ricky, and she couldn't imagine her life without him in it. Logan couldn't win full custody; he just couldn't.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Rory's anger towards Logan acted as a fuel. Where before she had been hesitant about the story, about exposing the fraud Logan had committed and the lies he'd told in order to start up his business and the shady actions he'd taken to keep it prospering, now Rory felt nothing but assured. After the initial shock and concern about the subpoena she'd been served had worn off, Rory's anger at Logan turned to a driving force and the words of her story flowed out of her like a rushing river.

Her anger also spurred her on to continue to dig. She had one source, sure, but there had to be more. Others who knew what Logan had done and would be willing to speak to her; others who had suspicions and had heard rumours. She would take whatever she could find to add detail and credibility to the words she'd elegantly crafted onto the page. It was the easiest story, despite the early setbacks, that Rory had written in a while.

Her writing was also aided by the fact that she'd been in Stars Hallow for about three weeks at that point. She didn't have to worry about going in to work each day, commuting through the busy New York streets for about an hour every day. She didn't have to worry about making sure that Ricky was getting to school, getting his homework done, and eating three times a day. All she had to worry about was writing; her mother and Luke took care of the rest.

"Will you at least come out of your cave for Christmas?" Lorelai asked the evening after Rory had come back from Lane's house. The younger Gilmore had said her hellos, kissed her son and made sure he was happy and thriving, and then immediately gone into her writing cave. Her discussion with Lane, and it's fortification of her determination to not let Logan get her son, had spurred on her writing juices and she'd quickly produced another couple of pages. She'd have to edit it all down eventually, but at that moment, all Rory worried about was getting everything down.

Rory looked up from her laptop at her mom and then took in her surroundings. Her room, the bedroom she'd had as a child, had at some point become pitch black. The sun set early in December, but despite that, Rory knew it was quite late.

"What time is it?"

"It's almost midnight. Merry Christmas," Lorelai responded, giving her daughter a slightly disappointed look. Rory had missed all of Christmas Eve. Ricky had probably gone to bed hours ago and she'd missed setting out cookies or reading the Night Before Christmas. Her heart broke a little.

"Sorry I've been so unreachable these past few weeks," Rory spoke. She stood slowly, her muscles protesting the change, and stretched her tight body out. Lorelai's look turned from disappointment to compassion. She held out a mug of still steaming coffee and then turned back into the kitchen.

Rory, her muscles still sore from hours of inactivity, shuffled after her mother. She gladly took the seat at the beat up kitchen table and sipped the coffee her mother had set there.

"Are you doing okay?" Lorelai asked. She seemed a little hesitant, like she wasn't sure what Rory would say. The younger Gilmore girl, for her part, wasn't really sure of the answer herself.

"I think I'm approaching okay," she responded after several quite moments in which the mother-daughter duo sipped their coffee. "Writing this story has helped. And being here, in Stars Hallow, has been a real comfort."

"You know you can always come home, whenever you need to escape your apparently crazy life," Lorelai spoke. Rory smiled at her mother and sipped her coffee; she was so tired she could have swallowed it all in only a few gulps, but it was far too hot to do more than sip.

"I know that you love when I visit, but I can't do it every time I have a problem. I have a job and Ricky has school. These past few months have been a little crazy and I hope after Christmas is over that life will return to normal for a little while at least."

Lorelai opened her mouth to say something but, in a slightly uncharacteristic move, she quickly closed it again without speaking. Rory was pretty sure she could guess what her mother had decided against saying; it was the same thing she'd been saying for close to a decade. 'Why don't you just move back to Stars Hallow.' At that point in Rory's life, the idea sounded really good, but she still couldn't justify leaving her life in New York; there were too many things that she couldn't just drop or change. But a girl could dream.

"I'm almost done with my story," Rory said, changing the subject. "It turned out really good. Righteous anger is a great motivator."

"Have you thought about what will happen when you release this story?" Lorelai asked, her eyes peaking over the top of her coffee cup. Rory gave her mother a look. She'd changed the subject because she wanted to avoid difficult topics, and her mother had forged right ahead into one.

"Hopefully it will result in Logan getting what he deserves. He's been lying to people and those people have the right to know," Rory responded.

"But, with you and him being in the middle of a court battle, it could come back to bite you. Maybe people will think you only wrote it because you are mad at him or are trying to get back at him."

Rory pushed back her chair. She knew her mother was only looking out for her best interest, making sure that she didn't end up shooting herself in the foot with the story. But, in that moment, Rory couldn't handle it.

"I should finish my story. That way I can spend the rest of the holiday with Ricky." Rory then walked back into her room and shut the door.

* * *

"I still think you should have gone with the chiffon," Emily Gilmore spoke as she skewered a green bean and put it into her mouth. It was Christmas Day and Rory, Ricky, Lorelai, and Luke were sitting in the Gilmore's dining room in Hartford.

"Mom! I told you. This is a lowkey wedding. Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive. Nothing froufrou. We want simple, like us." Lorelai responded. She was busy pushing some sort of unidentifiable sauce around on her plate.

"Well. At least Sookie has come up with a decent menu. No burgers," Emily shot Luke a pointed look. He had been in Rory's life for essentially its entirety. He'd been dating her mother on and off for like fifteen years, and yet still Emily wasn't sure he was the right fit for Lorelai. Luckily, she had taken recently to making these small jabs and not outright saying what she thought.

"I don't know, burgers might be nice," Richard mused. Since having a heart attack several years prior, Emily had been much more stringent on the food she allowed her husband to eat and Rory suspected he was getting tired off all the white meat, fish, and vegetables. "Or a nice juicy steak," Richard continued. Rory smiled affectionately at her grandfather, but Emily only gave him a withering look.

"Richard, this is our daughter's wedding. She will not be serving burgers to her guests!"

Richard shrugged unperturbedly and went back to his turkey. Rory stifled a chuckle at her grandparents' behaviour. There were times when coming to the Gilmore's was more like preparing for battle than anything else, but there were also times when her grandparents, with their banter and relationship, were Rory's favourite people.

"Well, Mom, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that we've nailed down most of the details of our wedding," Lorelai spoke, obviously trying to change the subject. Rory shot her mother a look and Lorelai, a little reluctantly, added. "We couldn't have done a lot of this without you, Mom. Thank you." Rory quickly looked at her grandmother and saw the elder Gilmore attempting to suppress a satisfied smile. That made Rory feel great about everything she had done. If her life was a mess, at least her mother and her grandmother were on reasonably good terms. At least something was going right.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

The Christmas break, and Rory's reprieve in Connecticut ended far too quickly for the brunette's liking. She'd spent those first few weeks hashing out her story, getting to a point where only further research that had to be conducted back in the city would improve it further. Then, she'd fully immersed herself in her family, in spending time with her mother, her soon-to-be-step-father, her step-father's daughter (who showed up around New Year's and spent the rest of the break with Rory, Lorelai, Luke, and Ricky), and her son. She was present in every moment, her story taking a back seat as she had, essentially completed it.

Having finished the story she also let go of, for those brief weeks, her worry about Logan and what would happen. The New York court system was fairly busy, and she wouldn't have to face her issues for at least another month. She'd already contacted Paris, her best friend and one of the best lawyers in New York city. It had been a little awkward, admitting that she'd been lying to Paris for so many years, but the other woman became so instantly focused on the task at hand that she didn't seem upset by Rory's transgression. So that was now essentially handled and out of Rory's hands.

She'd finally found herself enjoying the time. Even dinners at Emily's and Richard's, with the whole crew (April included) had been pleasant enough. It seemed that just having Lorelai occasionally ask her mother's opinion in the planning of the wedding was enough to keep Emily happy, so aside from her usual Emily judgements, the dinners hadn't gone off the rails as they had been known to do on occasion.

But, before she was ready for it, the break ended. Rory could, essentially, continue to work from Stars Hallow. As long as she sent Miranda drafts of her work, her boss didn't care if she was at the office or not. It was probably because Miranda liked to think that Rory didn't exist and it was easier to do that if the brunette wasn't sitting feet away, but Rory chose not to look that gift horse in the mouth. Instead, she'd gladly taken the three weeks in Stars Hallow without having to deal with her boss looking over her shoulder and breathing down her neck.

Her job wasn't what was drawing her back to the city. Even if she had a few more interviews she wanted to conduct there, she could still stay safely ensconced in her mother's house. What couldn't happen was Ricky attending school. Rory had already taken him out for a week, she couldn't really justify the extra time off. So, on that cold morning, she and Ricky boarded the train and headed back to the city, and back to reality. At least, Rory had 90% of her story completed. That mountain had been surmounted. Now, it was just a matter of surmounting the possibility of losing her son.

* * *

January passed fairly quickly, surprisingly. Rory immersed herself in her old routine. It was similar to the comfort-blanket-like feeling that being in Stars Hallow provided. Rory could pretend that she wasn't being sued for custody and that life was the same as it had been before Christmas. She got up in the morning, woke up Ricky, got the both of them ready for the day, and then headed off to work. There, she worked on finalising her story, tying up loose ends and making sure that her assertions were verifiable. Then she returned home, made dinner, relaxed, went to bed and did it all again.

The routine and monotony of the whole situation meant that before she knew it, a month had passed, and February was looming large. On the Saturday before February, Rory was lounging at home, still in her pyjamas, nursing a cup of coffee and buried in a good book when the sound of her buzzer went off. It was mid-morning, verging on early afternoon, but Rory still got up a little sleepily and padded to the buzzer.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hi, Rory," the voice of Jess Mariano sounded on the other end. Rory was a little surprised. The last person she had expected to show up at her door on a Saturday was Jess Mariano, especially since she hadn't seen him since before Christmas. That in and of itself wasn't all that strange. Jess didn't live in Stars Hallow so she'd just assumed he'd headed home or to his mom's house for Christmas.

She looked down at herself and began to panic. Jess may have been an old friend, but Rory still felt a little embarrassed about opening the door to him in her oversized t-shirt and booty shorts. However, she didn't have enough time to change.

"You there?" Jess asked again. Rory wasn't sure how long she'd been standing their silently panicking, but she quickly composed herself.

"Yeah, sorry. I wasn't expecting you to show up on my doorstep today. Come on up," Rory responded. It would be very rude to not invite Jess in, even though she wasn't presentable in her opinion, so she pressed the button that opened the door. She had maybe thirty seconds to a minute before Jess was at her apartment door, not enough time to do anything. Instead, she went to stand by the door and waited.

The knock sounded on the door only about twenty seconds later. 'He must have been rushing,' Rory thought as she opened the door.

"Who is it mom?" Ricky asked from his room. Rory was a little surprised that he was awake. She'd checked on him twenty minutes ago and he had been asleep in his bed, having a lazy, sleep-in Saturday too.

"It's Jess," Rory responded.

"Hello, Ricky," he called after her words, moving further into her apartment. As he did so, Rory took in his appearance. The last time she'd been with him, she'd essentially made a fool of herself and now she wanted to see if it had changed anything between the two of them. From the slightly tense way Jess was moving, Rory was pretty sure that something had.

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked. She hoped her tone wasn't accusatory but merely curious. She wasn't upset that Jess was here, despite his lack of heads up. She just genuinely wanted to know.

"We'd agreed to plan Lorelai and Luke's bachelor/bachelorette parties together. You know, make sure that nothing too crazy happens. Though knowing Luke, I don't think that's too big a worry." Jess stood slightly awkwardly in the space between Rory's kitchen, dining area, and living room.

"Right!" Rory exclaimed. In the chaos that had been her life, she'd forgotten this plan. Even though she'd spent the last few weeks of her vacation planning with her mom, she hadn't remembered that she'd asked Jess to help her plan the bachelor and bachelorette parties. "Well, let's get planning."

Rory motioned towards the living room, inviting Jess to take a seat on either her grey sofa or the small armchair in the corner. Jess to the armchair and Rory curled up on the couch. She could feel tension between the two of them and hoped that her moment of loss of control from a few weeks earlier wouldn't derail the process or make it harder than it had to be.

"So, do you have any thoughts about what you want it to be? Should we host it in Stars Hallow? Hartford? Here in New York? Should we do a show? Go out for drinks? One of my mom's other bachelorette parties we went to a drag club; that could be fun." Rory was aware of the fact that she was rambling, but the tension was causing her to lose control of her words. She just wanted to fill the silence and have Jess potentially acknowledge one of her ideas as a good one. Maybe if she could come up with a fun party idea, he would forget about her crying all over him.

"I don't think Luke would enjoy a drag club. Doesn't seem like his cup of tea. A few beers and some good food seems more his style." Jess responded. He wouldn't meet her eyes, instead gazing around her apartment at the items of clutter Rory had chosen to display or had just been too lazy to clean up. With every second, Rory felt more and more self-conscious.

"Well, I was just saying what we've done in the past. When Lane and Zack got married, we just ended up playing games at home. That sounds more like Luke's style," Rory responded. She sounded a little more defensive than she intended, but she hated feeling like she was out of control.

"Whatever," Jess responded. Only moments before he'd been criticizing her suggestion and now, he was acting like he didn't give a rat's ass. Rory groaned in absolute frustration.

"What is got into you? You came here, to my house, to help plan this thing and you've not offered one helpful suggestion? Are you mad at me? Or embarrassed? If anything, I should be the one that is embarrassed. I'm the one that ugly cried on you. So, I'm sorry if that caused you some discomfort but you need to get over it!" Rory knew that she was yelling. She was a little worried that Ricky would hear it and come out to see what was going on, but she couldn't really contain her frustration. It had been a really tough couple of months.

Jess just sat in his chair, blinking in surprise at Rory's reaction. Then he spoke. "You think I'm embarrassed about you crying? I don't care. It was obvious that you were going through a tough time and sometimes you need to let it out. I am upset that you had a son with that asshole, fully eradicated him from your life, and then proceeded to allow him back into your life! I have to say I'm not at all surprised by what he's done. Logan Huntzberger is not a good person Rory. His whole life is about what is best for him. I thought you knew that!" Jess, who had started off calm, by the end of his speech was yelling at a similar volume as Rory. Now it was time for Rory to blink at Jess in surprise.

She hadn't realised that he still had such strong opinions about Logan. He'd said as much when she'd quit Yale; he'd blamed Logan for pulling her off her course and allowing her to squander her time without trying to convince her to go back. It was surprising that he still felt as strongly. Logan hadn't been in her life for ten years and neither, really had Jess. And yet, the fact that she had dated him for a few weeks and then had it blow up horribly in her face had made Jess this angry?

"I – I didn't know you felt that way," Rory spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. The smallness of her voice seemed to calm Jess down. He sat back in his chair and buried his head in his hands.

"I just hate to see you in that much pain, especially at the hands of someone who is so not good enough for you," Jess responded. He looked up at Rory, looked her in the eye. As he did, Rory was overcome with a feeling. She wasn't sure that it was correct, but it was so strong that she didn't believe she'd just made it up.

'Does Jess still have feelings for me?'


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty Two**

Rory stood in her kitchen awkwardly looking at Jess. The realisation had washed over her only moments before and now she wasn't sure what the next step was. It made sense. Jess seemed to be acting a little irrationally. He was angry at her because she had returned to dating Logan, which was something that she could only reconcile if Jess had wanted to date her instead. And, once Rory knew this fact, she wasn't sure how to act normal.

"Would you – would you like some tea?" she finally asked. Maybe, if she could busy herself with something productive, she could process this in a timely manner and not just stand there staring at him.

"Sure," Jess said. He didn't sound like he wanted it, but like he too, wanted a moment alone. Rory nodded and hurried off to the kitchen. She wasn't really alone. Her apartment wasn't all that large and the kitchen, living room, and dining room were essentially the same. However, the small amount of space between them seemed to be enough and then tension that had been building between them dissipated.

Rory set to boiling water and selecting the tea she would serve. She figured, as she did so, the best thing to do for the next few moments at least, would be to focus on the task at hand. Once they planned the bachelor/ bachelorette parties, Jess could leave and Rory could really figure out what she was going to do with the fact that she was pretty sure that Jess liked her.

"So, we should probably go with something lowkey for the party. We could do a fun movie at the black, white, and read movie theatre. Maybe go to Casey's for some drinks. Something like that?" Rory asked as she plunged the tea bags into the cups of boiling water.

"That sounds pretty good actually. Something that they would both like and not compromising too much," Jess responded.

"Okay, well, I'll look and see what's playing and we can go from there," Rory responded. She handed Jess the cup, though now that they'd essentially finished their planning, she wished she hadn't. Now they would be forced to sit, awkwardly in each other's company while Jess finished his tea.

"You know what. I should get going. I have some work that I need to get done," Jess spoke, turning down Rory's proffered drink. He stood, grabbed his jacket and, without needing Rory to do anything, left the apartment.

As the door clicked shut, Ricky emerged from his bedroom. "Oh, great, tea!" he explained, grabbing the mug of tea that Rory still held in her hand.

* * *

After her strange run in with Jess, Rory didn't see him again. It wasn't strange; Rory had gone years only seeing Jess on the rare occasion that they were both in Stars Hallow at the same time. In fact, the amount of run-ins they'd had since October of the year before was a little odd. Now, this not seeing Jess thing was normal, but it felt strange because of what had happened with Jess. It was almost like, with the realisation, Rory was expecting to see Jess around more. Like her knowing would attract him to her more or something. So, it was a little strange that she wasn't seeing him.

The person she was seeing a lot of was Logan. The beginning of February brought about the preliminary stages of her legal issues. Paris had been emailing her incessantly, asking questions about what she knew, decisions she'd made, and arguments they could make. Rory's first appearance in court wouldn't be until after Valentine's day, so she could put off her worrying about that for a little while longer.

However, Paris and Rory did have meetings with Logan and his lawyer. They were trying to iron out a deal before they actually had to go to court. Rory was sure it was a lawyer decision because when Logan was sitting across the table from her in his lawyer's office, it seemed as though he wanted nothing more than to hurt her. Physically. Mentally. Rory was sure Logan didn't care how.

"My client is willing to accept partial custody, with primary custody residing with her," Paris said. Logan's lawyer, a fit, beautiful woman with immaculately applied makeup, leaned over to her client and whispered something in his ear. Logan whispered something in return and his lawyer turned back to face Paris.

"We're glad that you're willing to compromise, but my client wants full custody, nothing less. Your client kept the existence of his son from him for a decade. She has pulled him out of school countless times over the last month alone for no reason other than she was leaving town. That isn't painting an image of a very responsible mother," Logan's lawyer spoke, her tone and visage haughty. Rory clenched her fists tight under the table. She wanted to lash out at the pretentious woman, to wipe the smirk off her face but, seeing as she'd just been discussing things that made Rory seem unstable, she was pretty sure that such a reaction would only hurt her in the long run.

"That's cute. You don't even have proof that the boy is your clients son. You're basically asking the courts to abduct my client's son at this point. We were hoping for some good faith negotiating, giving some concessions because my client is only concerned about what is best for her son, but if you are going to dig in, we'll see you in court. " Paris began collecting her papers and then stood to leave. A little unsure of what was happening, Rory followed suit.

"And if you're going to try and paint my client as unstable, I have several witnesses, plus personal knowledge of just how unstable your client is," Paris added as she and Rory left the room. They walked down the hall to the elevator bank, Rory managing to keep herself composed the entire time. Then, when the elevator doors closed behind them and Rory was alone with Paris, she rounded on her friend.

"Logan is Ricky's father, Paris. The DNA will come back and it will show that. He isn't trying to abduct my son because it's his son too! He's going to take Ricky from me. I barely even want to share custody and he's definitely going to get that. Plus, the Huntzbergers are a powerful family. They could make things up, bring up my arrest, anything to make me look like an unfit mother!" Rory was close to hyperventilating by the time she was finished. The entire time, Paris stood next to Rory, her face expressionless.

"Are you done?" she asked. Rory took a few calming breaths, or at least tried to, but didn't respond to Paris' slightly condescending question. "I know that Logan is Ricky's father. You told me that and I believe you. It's a negotiating tactic; to remind them of how little legal standing we have right now. The DNA may come in before trial, but it also might not and if we can get all of this dealt with before it is scientifically determined that Logan is Ricky's father, that's good for us.

"As for him smearing your name, his lawyer will advise him to be careful of making accusations. Courts tend to side with mothers, and like giving joint custody way more than awarding one parent sole custody. You would have to be a truly terrible mother, which you so obviously are not, for the court to give Ricky to Logan. You not telling Logan about Ricky for ten years is not the mark of an unstable parent. Your arrest was over ten years ago, and before you were a mother, so it shouldn't have too much weight. And if Logan tries to make things up, it could very easily backfire on him and paint him in a bad light.

"Don't worry. I handle accused murders and other serious criminals on a daily basis. A little custody case in family court is small beans. You will not lose your son. I'm far too good for that." The elevator doors slide open to punctuate Paris' statement and the blonde woman stepped out into the lobby of the office building confidently. Rory followed, but much less assuredly. Paris was very convincing but a not-insignificant part of Rory was irrationally worried about losing her son and no amount of logic could assuage her feelings.

* * *

In an attempt to put her court issues out of her mind, Rory threw herself into planning her mother's wedding. Most of the major details were already established. The big day was only a few months away and they'd found dresses, for Lorelai and Rory, picked a venue, settled on a theme, nailed down the menu with Sookie, sent out save the dates and invitations, and even decided on what Lorelai and Luke's signature drink would be, an espresso martini. Now it was mostly just finicky details, like decorations of the ceremony and the reception, the seating plan, and the bouquets. But mostly, what Rory's role was at that moment was as referee between her mother and her grandmother.

It seemed that, because Emily had been fairly acquiescent during the planning of the major aspects of the wedding. She'd offered muted opinions on Lorelai's dress, though she'd definitely welled up when they got to the final one. She'd been silent in the decision to have the wedding in the town square with the reception at the Dragon Fly. She even stayed out completely of discussions of the menu. Now however, with the finer details, it seemed like Emily believed that she should have a greater say. It was like she'd traded them off. Be agreeable during the large things and be victorious in the small details. Emily was coming in strong on what she thought the finer points of the wedding should be.

"Oh no. You do not want baby's breath. Everyone uses that in their bouquets. You should definitely go for something more unique. Maybe some bluebells and lavender," Emily commented, snatching the flowers out of her daughter's hand and ushering a rather stunned Lorelai over to the other section of the flower market.

"Baby's breath is popular grandma. There's nothing wrong with having popular flowers in a bouquet," Rory replied. She wasn't sure how set her mother had been on her flower choice, but she figured that if she didn't step in Emily would continue steamrolling the outing. She'd done essentially the same thing with the dishes and place settings' that Lorelai had planned to use.

"Lorelai has never been about the popular choice. She's always stubbornly ploughed her own path. Now, aren't these so much better?" Emily presented a lovely bouquet of blue and purple flowers. They matched Lorelai's colour scheme perfectly and actually were quite stunning. Rory also couldn't help but feel like there was some sort of backhanded compliment in her grandmothers words.

"They're lovely mom," Lorelai responded, caving into Emily's wishes. As Rory watched the two other women move throughout the flowers adding finishing touches she couldn't help but hope that her negotiations with Logan would go better than her negotiations with her grandmother were currently progressing.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three**

It had come down to this. Despite Paris' best efforts to negotiate, and Rory's good-faith concessions, it seemed that Logan wasn't really interested in time with his son if it didn't end up hurting Rory in the process as well. She'd never seen this side of Logan, this cool, calculating, manipulative side. This was a side she thought of in relation to Mitchum or Shira. They were the Huntzbergers who looked at a situation and saw how they could best stage-manage the people in it to get the best outcome for themselves. It wasn't the Logan that she knew. But then again, the Logan that she knew had been an earnest, if slightly naïve businessman, not some shady wall street tycoon only interested in the bottom line and filling his own pockets as much as possible. People changed in ten years.

"Now, Ms. Gilmore, please explain to the court why you kept such pertinent information from my client?" Logan's attorney asked. Rory had been testifying for about a half an hour, beginning with Paris walking her through raising Ricky, the sacrifices she'd made for his benefit and generally portraying her as the loving, caring mother she thought of herself as. It was now Logan's turn to tear all that down and paint her as an unfit mother.

"Well, when we broke up and went our separate ways, him to California and myself on the campaign trail, I didn't know I was pregnant. I didn't know really until a couple months later. I was stressed, not eating very well, not sleeping enough, worrying about reporting everything important and making it so that the reader wanted my take over any of the other reporters. I was brand new and it was a big assignment and it meant that I wasn't paying attention to the signs that I should have been.

"Then, once I did know, the first thing I wanted to do was tell Logan. My mom raised me as a single parent and while I think she did an amazing job and I wouldn't trade our relationship for the world, I know it was hard on her. I wasn't sure I had the same strength to do it on my own. So, I planned to visit Logan, tell him about it, and have him be a part of the baby's life right from the beginning."

"Ms. Gilmore," Logan's attorney butted in. "I asked you why you didn't tell Logan about his son and as nice as your touching tribute to your single mom is, I feel you have yet to actually answer my question."

"I was getting to that," Rory responded. She tried not to snap at the lawyer. She knew that the other woman was only trying to win the case for her client and Rory's attempt to humanize her and talk about how she had a single mother and didn't turn out absolutely terrible.

"I went to Logan's house. I was literally standing on the curb, when I saw two woman, one younger and one older coming out of his house. I was a little upset, you know, hormones and everything. So, I just left and went to a diner nearby. While I was there, I saw in the newspaper that the younger woman was Logan's fiancée. In that moment, I realised that Logan had obviously moved on and that if I were to tell him, it could ruin everything he'd built. I knew that he would want to be an involved father and it could destroy his relationship. I mean, if I was his fiancée I don't know if I would stick around when some girl from his past came back saying she was pregnant with his baby.

"I thought it would just be best to not tell him, raise my son on my own and let Logan have his life."

"You didn't think that it would work out well? Or that Logan had the right to know?" Logan's lawyer was getting a little shouty, a little almost hysterical, but she was still obviously in control. Rory wasn't sure how to respond, the questions were on the rhetorical end; Rory wasn't sure if she was allowed to ask questions like that. However, Paris wasn't objecting. Rory turned to the judge for any direction and the older man simply nodded, prodding her to answer the question.

"I don't know. I couldn't see into the future; I didn't know how things would turn out. And, I wasn't exactly thinking very clearly. I was a bit hormonal," Rory responded. Rory knew she sounded defensive, but the lawyer was attacking her at every opportunity and there was only so much that Rory could take.

"And what about now, do you think Logan deserves to see his son?" the lawyer asked. Her tone was calm, a little glad almost. Rory was sure that the lawyer figured she'd gotten what she needed out of Rory, though what exactly that was Rory wasn't sure.

"I think that Ricky should get to know his father. We tried to negotiate for shared custody, but you and your client weren't seeming to have it. I don't think Logan deserves full custody. Ricky doesn't even know who he really is. I'm open to a fair settlement, not this."

* * *

Rory was absolutely steaming. She wasn't sure how she'd managed to contain it while in court. How she'd managed to sit beside Paris and not betray the fury that was rolling through her. After Rory's time on the stand, Logan's lawyer had begun calling what Rory could only describe as anti-character witnesses. It was like she'd sent a spam email to everyone who had ever seen Rory at a low point in her life, or enjoying being twenty, and paraded them before the judge. Witness after witnessed described a college-aged Rory drinking, at times to excess, dropping out of Yale after stealing a boat, being in therapy, and any other unpleasant thing that Rory had ever done.

None of the witness talked about Rory as a mom. Logan hadn't been in Rory's life for ten years so they didn't know who she associated with now and, even if they did, Rory was sure none of her friends or family would show up in Logan's defense. All of the witnesses could only describe a Rory of ten years ago, but that didn't mean that Rory wasn't any less upset about the fact that every misstep she'd made when she was in her early twenties was being used to declare her unfit now, in her mid-thirties.

"It was muck-racking Rory. The judge will not be swayed by it. They don't have a single person who can talk about your character now. This is the case of someone who is used to winning and getting their way, but the legal system doesn't work like that. We've done our job to paint you as a stellar mom and the judge will see that!" Paris tried to calm Rory down. But, much like everything with this whole situation, Rory found it very hard to be rational and logical when it came to her son. She understood all of Paris' points, but they didn't permeate the dome of panic that had descended upon her when she'd read Logan's declaration of his desire to take her son from her.

"When do we need to be back in court?" Rory asked. Both sides had made their cases in the day's prior and now they were waiting on the judge's ruling.

"We won't know until the judge makes his decision. It could take a few days or a few weeks. Once the decision has been made, we will be informed and expected to be back in court the following day." Paris responded. Rory nodded at her words.

"Okay. I'll see you then," she spoke before walking away from Paris. Rory was happy that their relationship had never been one in which they shared their feelings a lot. They did it occasionally, but Rory knew that Paris wouldn't chase after her and press her on how she was feeling. Paris would either wait until Rory was ready to share, or until it began to seriously impact the brunette. That moment was neither, so Rory was able to walk down the courthouse steps and into the New York City traffic that moved along on the street. She had to pick up her son from school and then Rory had every intention to do what she'd done in such situations for the past few months. She was escaping to Stars Hallow for the next week, or as long as it took the judge to decide if he would take Ricky away.

'Thank god Ricky isn't at school next week or this could be yet another thing they drag out to show what a terrible mother I am.' Rory thought as she made her way towards her son's school.

* * *

"Mom!" Rory groaned out for what felt like the thousandth time that day. She wasn't really yelling at her mom, more at the universe through her mother. She was sitting in the living room of her mother's house, trying to finish her paper, but she kept losing her internet connection. At some time after Rory moved out, her mom had stopped paying for high-speed internet and now only used a slow, fairly unreliable internet. Normally, it wasn't an annoyance for Rory because when she came to Stars Hallow, she didn't do a lot of work but on this occasion, with Rory's piece scheduled to go to print in March, she'd had no other choice.

"Luke just got new high speed internet at Luke's and if you ask nicely, I could give you the password," Lorelai called from the kitchen. Rory wasn't sure what her mother was doing in the kitchen, it certainly wasn't cooking, but there had been some banging a few minutes prior.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top," Rory called back.

"LukeDanes1. Capital L. Capital D," Lorelai responded before banging something again. Rory chuckled at the lack of technological know-how that was so clearly displayed with that password. She then gathered her computer and bag and headed out the door, hoping that Luke's internet would allow her to put her finishing touches on the story and then submit it to Miranda the editor from hell.

"Where are you going?" a small voice asked from the stairs. Ricky had been upstairs in the bedroom he used when they were in Stars Hallow, reading, but he had obviously been alerted to something going on.

"Luke's. Grandma's internet isn't working," Rory explained. Her son nodded, happy with the explanation and turned to head back up to his room. "Do you want to come?" Rory added last minute. She hadn't thought about asking her son to join her. In fact, it sort of went against her plan to try and get work done. But there was the ever-present prospect that she would lose him and she was craving time with him whenever she could get it.

For his part, Ricky shrugged in response, turned on his heel to grab his book and bounded back down to Rory in only a few seconds. Apparently, Ricky also wanted to spend time with her. Rory felt a smile break across her face at that thought.

As they walked through the streets to Luke's, Ricky seemed exceptionally chatty. He was eagerly regaling her with the goings on at his school, the projects he was working on, the books he was reading, the silly things his friends did at recess. Rory and her mother had always had a close relationship, sharing everything that went on in each other's lives. However, Ricky was always a quieter boy, more at home in his books than around other people and he rarely let his mother in on the thoughts in his head. It had been hard at first, for Rory to not have the same relationship with her son as she'd had with her mother, but now she cherished they rare moments when her son did open up to her.

The small chime above the door at Luke's broke Rory out of her revere. It was quite busy inside, for a small town diner on a February in the middle of the week. It meant that Rory and Ricky had to take a seat at counter. Rory had been hoping for a table so she could easily spread out her work, but at the point, she would take what she could get.

Ricky eagerly jumped up onto the counter and pulled out a menu. He eagerly perused it, kicking his feet as he did so. Rory took the place next to him and began pulling out her laptop.

"Hey, Ricky! I wasn't expecting to see you here," the familiar voice of Jess Mariano spoke. Rory tensed up behind her computer. She hadn't seen Jess since the slightly disastrous bachelor/ bachelorette planning day.

"I'm on break. Can I get a hamburger and a coke please?" Jess nodded at the boy and then walked away without acknowledging her presence. She felt a little slighted, but also a little relieved. She wasn't really sure how she should act around Jess at that moment, with the possibility that he might like her floating awkwardly between them.

"Aren't you going to order, Mom?" Ricky asked as he watched Jess walk away, a small wrinkle on confusion blooming between his eyebrows.

"I'm not hungry, Ricky. Only came here to work. And remember Papa Luke will be making you dinner too, so don't eat too much." Ricky nodded in agreement, then pulled out his book and got back to reading. Rory for her part buried herself back in her work, clacking away at the keys on the keyboard of her laptop. She quickly lost herself in the work, and before she knew it, an hour had passed.

Rory looked up from her laptop, a little dazed and lost at the passing of time. She looked over at her son, feeling a little guilty at essentially ignoring her son for the past hour. What she saw surprised her. Ricky had long ago finished his meal and his plate was pushed off to the side, as was his book. Normally, Rory could assuage her guilt at not paying her son a lot of attention because he had usually contented himself with a book. She didn't do it often, mostly at the end of a story, but she could always guarantee that her son was occupied and happy while she worked. Seeing his book discarded was quite shocking.

What was even more shocking was that instead of reading, Ricky and Jess were bent over a comic book. It wasn't one that Ricky owned, so it must have been something that Jess had. They were deep in discussion and something about the sight pulled at Rory's heart strings. She hadn't thought a lot about what it would be like for Ricky to have a male, father-figure in his life but the few times she'd allowed herself to think about it, this was essentially the scene she imaged. Her son and his father-figure bonding over a shared love of books and discussing it for hours on end. Her week had started off rocky but this image, this almost idyllic image, was definitely doing a lot to turn it around.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four**

Rory smiled at the sight of Jess and Ricky animatedly discussing a comic book. As she watched the pair, any worry about how she would interact with Jess was gone. Her suspicions, and that point that was all they were, didn't mean that Jess was a different person. He was the same book-loving boy she'd known for years. He was the same passionate person who would always call Rory out when she was making thoughtless decisions or taking life too seriously. So what if he maybe liked her? He was still Jess.

Rory would have loved to have that moment continue for eternity. Unfortunately, at that moment her phone chirped with a text message. Jess looked over at her and she looked down at her phone to see her mom asking when she'd be home as Luke was starting dinner. It was time to get going.

"Time to go Ricky. Luke is starting dinner. We don't want to miss that," Rory spoke, packing up her laptop. Ricky looked at her sadly, but nodded, nonetheless.

"You can take this book," Jess said and Ricky's eyes lit up. The way to that boys heart was through books. "Just bring it back the next time you're here and if we don't see each other Luke will get it to me." Ricky nodded quickly in understanding before jumping down from the stool, his book tucked under his arm and the comic held in front of his face like the most precious thing he'd ever seen. He scurried through the diner and outside before taking a seat on the step to read the comic while Rory finished packing up.

Without her son to act as a buffer, Jess and Rory stood around a little awkwardly. Rory was happy that she had the task of packing up otherwise she wasn't sure she could stand it.

"What were you working on?" Jess finally asked. It seemed he had made a decision that he too wouldn't let whatever was hanging unsaid in the air between them change things too much.

"It's me first major story. Definitely going to be front page above the fold so it's quite the big deal," Rory responded rather proudly. "I've been tasked with investigating rumours about potential illegal activity at Huntzberger Enterprises." Jess's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline and his eyes widened.

"You're writing an expose on the jerk?" Jess asked. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Yeah, well, he's trying to take my son from me," Rory responded, before slinging her computer bag over her shoulder, shooting Jess a friendly smile in goodbye, and following after her son.

* * *

When Rory returned back to New York at the end of the week, she officially submitted her story. It had been several months of not really doing anything. Followed by a few weeks of actually getting some information that she sat on for another few weeks. Then finally, about a month and a half of writing, further researching, and fine tuning. It was truly a labour of love, and also a labour of anger and fear and frustration. When she finally sent it off to Miranda for her final approval and publishing, she really did feel like she birthed another child.

And then came the anxiety.

She'd essentially just written a hit piece on the father of her son, the man she was currently in court with. Would this affect anything? She'd told Paris about the story, told her about the details that she'd discovered, and Paris hadn't seemed to be phased by it. All her lawyer friend had said was they weren't going to use it in the court case, but she hadn't warned Rory against it, hadn't said a word about not publishing it or not writing.

But in the last few weeks, Rory's brain had decided that it would immediately jump to worst case scenario, terrible things happening. So, as soon as the story was out of her hands and she couldn't easily retract it, especially not unless doing some serious sucking up to Miranda, her mind went to the judge awarding Logan full custody because of it. How would this be perceived? How would it all go over? Would this be the piece that destroyed her journalistic career before she even really got started?

"If Paris thought it was bad, she would have said something," Lane slurred for what had to have been the twentieth time that evening. She and Rory were sitting at one of Rory's favourite bars in New York. As soon as Rory had submitted her story, she'd reached out to Lane and asked if her oldest friend in the world was free for the evening. Lane had readily agreed and arrived in New York only a few short hours later.

Rory found some relief in the presence her childhood friend. She found even more relief in the warmth of the alcohol that slid down her throat with each drink.

"Sometimes Paris isn't the best at counselling others when it isn't strictly in her prevue," Rory slurred back. She was still in that unproductive state of mind where only the worst case scenarios were allowed to have credence and thrive. There was no place for logical thinking or sound reasoning. Lane seemed to recognize this and, instead of continuing to make her case, simply order the pair another round.

Rory smiled at her friend. There was a reason she had turned to Lane.

* * *

The story broke the next day. It was front page news and, before Rory had even finished her first cup of coffee and awoken her son for the day, it was everywhere. Every channel on television, news organizations on social media, and even people in the hallway outside her apartment were talking about it.

Logan Huntzberger, business darling, was a lying, cheating, criminal. Her allegations, supported by at least half a dozen sources, though none of them named, were being discussed by everyone. And the discussions, much to Rory's relief, were all against Logan. They were on her side; they believed her words. Some were a little hesitant, a little more questioning, but most were supportive.

It put a bounce in Rory's step that she hadn't had in months. Not since this story had been dropped in her lap, an attempt to trip her up. Instead, Rory had done the work, taken the time, and written one of the most important exposes of her career.

As soon as the story came out, she'd called her mom. Lorelai had read bits and pieces of the work as Rory had been writing it, but she hadn't seen the whole thing. And Rory had bounced a couple of ideas off her mother. She didn't want another ballerina fiasco, even though in the end she didn't feel like she'd been in the wrong in that situation. However, her mother hadn't read the whole piece start to finish and Rory wanted her unfiltered opinion.

"I knew I didn't like Logan. From the moment I met him, I just sensed that something was off. I knew it!" Lorelai all but yelled down the phone as soon she'd picked up. "I'm sorry that you got tied up with him."

Rory sighed over the phone at her mother's slight hysterics, but also smiled. Lorelai Gilmore lived for the I told you so moments and Rory really was glad her mom was on her side.

"Okay, aside from that, what did you think of the piece?" Rory wasn't sure why, but asking her mom, or really anyone, to critique her writing in person sent waves of anxiety through her and she had to get up and pace around her living room while she waited for her mom's response.

"It was well-written, informative, definitely not biased, and if I hadn't known you for over thirty years and been witness to your dating Logan, I wouldn't have known you had any sort of personal connection with him." Lorelai spoke like she'd prepared her answer for this question beforehand and was reading it off, but Rory didn't care. She just needed the validation.

"You don't think people will make the connection?" Rory fretted. As she spoke, a rather frantic pounding began on her door. A little hesitantly Rory went over to see who was aggressively knocking on her door. The Times wouldn't have given out her address, of that Rory was certain, but you still couldn't discount crazy, deranged stalkers who were mad at her for the story she'd written. Stanger things had happened.

Looking through the peep hole in her door, Rory witnessed a slightly agitated Paris. Her heart dropped into her stomach. She was aware that her mother was speaking but did not process any of what she said.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I've got to go. Paris is at the door and she looks worried." Rory didn't wait for her mother's response before hanging up her phone and a little hesitantly opening the door. Paris could give a good ass-whooping speech with the best of them and something about her friend and lawyer's demeanour made Rory very sure that she would soon be experiencing exactly that.

"So, you've read it?" Rory asked, trying to make her voice sound light and airy and hopefully making Paris feel slightly less upset at the brunette.

"Yeah, I did," Paris responded, but her tone wasn't upset. In fact, her words, along with the wave of her hand she made as she spoke them, came across as dismissive. Was Paris not here about the story? Why else would she have come to Rory's apartment? Paris never came to Rory's apartment. Being an important lawyer in a major Manhattan law firm payed a lot more than a columnist at a newspaper and Paris always insisted they meet either at the blonde woman's brownstone or at some trendy restaurant throughout the city. A house call was so out of the ordinary that Rory had instantly assumed the worst.

"What did you think?" Rory asked. She felt like she was on the back foot, like she was missing a key piece of information, and without it she wasn't sure how to proceed.

"It was fine, a little vindictive. Reminds me of that time you called a ballerina fat. But it seems to be circulating well. Can I come in?" Paris asked. In that moment Rory realised that, in her panic, she'd stood right in front of the door, trapping her friend out in the hallway of her apartment building.

"Yes, sorry. Come on in? DO you want some coffee? Tea?" Rory still wasn't sure what Paris was here for and how she could best handle the whole thing so she defaulted to the good hospitality she'd learned from her grandmother.

Paris shook her head at the offer and, as she took in the small, eclectic living room in front of her, wrinkled her nose. "Apparently you and your mother have the same taste," Paris spoke under her breath. Rory still heard it but chose not to comment. Paris had always lacked a certain amount of tact, which had at times been extremely aggravating and also incredibly refreshing. A little reluctantly, Paris took a seat on Rory's couch.

"I got a call from Huntzberger's attorney," Paris finally spoke. Rory, who had already been tense, felt her muscles contract even further.

"Oh!" she exhaled involuntarily.

"She said that she'd seen the article and needed to talk to Logan about it first but hinted that they might be willing to make a deal." Paris examined her nails like she was bored by this discussion.

"Can they do that? Even with the case before the judge?" Rory slumped into her armchair across from Paris. Of all the things she thought Paris had come to her small apartment to discuss, the end of her custody struggle was the last thing on the list.

"Yeah. Up until the judge makes her ruling in open court a deal can be made between the two of you. So, I'll let you know when I hear something. I've got to be in court for an embezzlement case in an hour." Having said her piece, Paris stood once more and left. Apparently, the agitation that Rory had seen in Paris had nothing to do with her case, but rather the fact that Paris was rather pressed for time.

"Right. Okay." Rory wasn't entirely conscious of the words she was speaking. Her mind was still processing the information she'd just received. On autopilot, Rory walked Paris to the door and saw her friend out. She was in the same state only seconds later when her phone rang. It was why she answered her phone without checking the caller ID so she wasn't entirely sure who was calling.

"Hello?" Rory spoke, her tone sounding a little dazed, even to her ears.

"Rory. It's Logan."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five**

Rory froze. He was honestly the last person she'd ever expected to hear from at that moment. What could he possibly want? He didn't sound particularly angry, so it couldn't be about her piece. Surely if it was about what she had written about him, about how she'd probably destroyed his current business and ruined any possibility of future ones. She also wasn't sure if it was about their son. She couldn't tell from his tone what he was calling about.

"Logan. Why are you calling me?" she hoped her tone wasn't too harsh. She was so confused by it all that she wasn't processing information at her normal rate.

"It's about your story," he said. Rory held her breath. Maybe he was mad and she just couldn't tell. But she really didn't think he sounded upset. In fact, to Rory's ear he sounded defeated.

"What about my story?" Rory had expected Logan to continue on, but when he remained silent, Rory felt compelled to fill the silence.

"Well, it's done quite a number on not only my business, but my reputation as well. We're sort of in damage control mode right now." Logan exhaled a large breath but still, despite the words that he was saying, Rory was sure he wasn't angry. "As such, I've been evaluating what I need to focus on right now and, while I'm not giving up on it completely, I will be dropping my custody suit."

Rory couldn't believe what she was hearing. Logan was ending things, stopping their battle. She wouldn't be facing the possibility of losing Ricky any longer. The greatest of weights was instantly lifted off her shoulders.

"You know," Rory said, slightly hesitantly, "if you want to know Ricky, if you genuinely want to know your son and have him in your life, I won't stop you. I thought I was protecting the life you'd made for yourself after we'd broken up. I would like Ricky to have a father; mine was only a side-character in most of my life, so if Ricky can have a more active father than I did. Well, that would be absolutely fantastic.

There was another sigh, but this was seemed less defeated. "I'd like that," Loga responded before hanging up the phone. Rory sat back into her couch and took a moment to gather herself. If someone had told her nine months ago that she'd have written a ground-breaking expose, be planning her mother's wedding, and had her largest secret revealed to everyone she loved and the father of her son, she would have found it very hard to believe. But that was her life right now.

"Mom! Do you know where my blue plaid shirt is?" the slightly hysterical voice of her son called from his room reminding Rory that, as crazy as her life had gotten, she still had the same responsibilities she had before everything went topsy-turvy.

* * *

Rory's story broke quickly. Logan and his company quickly went into damage control and began trying to downplay, smokescreen, and obfuscate the claims that Rory had made. She had to give it up to Logan, he'd hired quite the spin doctor/ P.R. specialist/ white collar lawyer. The team that continued to front the media and try and explain things away was quite convincing. Rory was almost sure that, had she not been the one to write the story, she might have bought some of what Logan's team was claiming.

Along with Rory's story, the SEC took up the investigation. They had greater resources and more experience than Rory had, so she was sure they would find out even more than Rory had. She was a little sad to see the man she had once loved brought so low by his own hubris, but it was mostly his own hubris, his own actions that had been his undoing.

Then, after about three weeks, the story was out of the news cycle. Other major stories, and other financial stories, took over the headlines. Logan's company, and Rory's expose, were quickly relegated to small blurbs whenever an update on the case was released, which were few and far between. Rory might have been more upset about it, except she had been in the news business for several years now and knew how these things worked, and she had her mother's wedding only weeks away. She was way too busy to worry about how long people had talked about the story she'd put months of her life into.

In fact, the months between Rory's story coming out and the May wedding of her mother and Luke passed in more of a blur of tulle. She almost couldn't believe it when she was looking down at the calendar proclaiming that it was the weekend before the big day.

'Where did the time go?' Rory mused to herself as she scrolled through various documents on her computer. she was going through her check list and notes that she'd made for the wedding. It was crunch time. If she missed something or forgot something, she'd better catch it then or it would be too late to do anything else.

"Dress, Check. For mom. For grandma. For me. All check. Flowers for the tables. Check. Flowers for the bouquets. Check," Rory mumbled to herself. With each check she said, Rory crossed off the item on her various lists. It felt good, like she had a little ounce of control over what felt like a crazy hectic situation. She'd thought about going to Stars Hallow that weekend to finalize things with her mother, but Rory was pretty sure she would only get pulled down into her mother's neurosis over the upcoming nuptials. Lorelai didn't have the greatest track record with weddings, especially ones that had been meticulously planned out over several months. The only wedding of the three engagements Lorelai had was a spontaneous elopement, a spur of the moment decision. The two that she'd planned had ended only days or, in the case of her wedding to Max, hours before the date.

Rory just needed to stay in New York, work on the final details and then head to Stars Hallow the following weekend, a long weekend, and make sure her mother made it down the aisle. That was the best way for Rory to maintain her sanity.

* * *

The weekend finally came. Lorelai Gilmore was all set to marry Luke Danes. After years of them dancing around each other, almost making down the aisle, and then getting stupid and spending even more years apart from each other. But all that was over now.

Rory sat in the small room in Ms. Patty's dance studio, where the bridal party was getting ready. She was looking in the vanity mirror in front of her, but it wasn't her own reflection she was focused on. Instead, she was intently watching her mother and grandmother.

Emily had arrived about twenty minutes prior, a little huffed that Lorelai had apparently given her the wrong time and had claimed they wouldn't start getting ready until an hour before the wedding. Really, it had been Rory that had made that decision. At times, it was best to limit the length of interactions between the two Gilmore women. That way, they had less time to say something that offended the other and get into a fight about it. With the way Emily had arrived, almost as if she was raring for a fight, Rory was worried she'd made a mistake.

But then Emily had caught sight of Lorelai in her wedding dress. It was the first time, Rory was almost positive, that Emily had seen her daughter in a wedding dress, hair and makeup done. Lorelai hadn't invited her mother to the dress shop, worried that her hypercritical nature would ruin the joyous event. And, Rory was sure that Emily hadn't seen Lorelai in any of her other wedding dresses. So, it must have been a special moment and, the minute the Emily took in the sight, all anger and annoyance left her.

Now, she was sitting on a couch with Lorelai, a small keepsake box in her lap. Rory was surprised that Emily had thought to bring it. Apparently, it contained items that Emily had been saving up over Lorelai's life. Trinkets and mementos that matched the wedding superstition of 'something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.' The pair were going through the items in the box, reminiscing about the memories that some of them brought up, tears forming in both women's eyes. It was a truly beautiful moment all because of Lorelai's wedding, an event that neither woman had got to experience together before.

"Okay ladies!" Ms. Patty's cheery voice rang out over the slight din of voices that filled the room. "We are minutes out from the start of the ceremony. Last minute tweaks only and the we've got to get this show on the road."

Rory took the interruption of Ms. Patty to go corral her mother. Lorelai's dress, make up, and hair were essentially done, but Rory wanted to make sure that everything was absolutely perfect on this special day.

"Oh, good Rory," her grandmother said as she approached the pair. "Your mother's make up is running a little. You should probably fix that. I have to go find my seat," Emily then hurried away. Well, it was nice to know that Emily hadn't really changed. Rory chuckled at her grandmother's escape.

Lorelai had decided that instead of having her father walk her down the aisle, since their relationship was best defined at slightly complicated, Rory would give her mother away. Lorelai had explained that her life hadn't belonged to her parents in thirty years, and she felt it right that Rory be the one to walk with her into this new stage of her life. Rory had bawled when Lorelai had explained this to her.

"You ready?" Rory asked as she dabbed at her mom's face, making sure that all of the makeup was in place.

"More than ever," Lorelai responded. She picked up a small pressed flower from the box that Emily had left and placed it delicately into her bouquet. "Now I've got my something old, blue, and borrowed, because Mom is definitely going to want this flower back." Rory chuckled.

"Okay, Lorelai. Rory. It's show time!" Ms. Patty called again. The two Gilmore girls looked at each other, making sure that the other was ready, and then turned to the door. Rory hadn't ever thought this day would come. Her mother had been so close several times, and she and Luke had been dancing around each other for years. But now that it had happened, she couldn't be happier.

* * *

Rory made it to the end of the aisle before the tears started streaming down her face. Seeing the look on Luke's face as he watched Lorelai walk towards her, ready to begin their lives together, had sent her over the edge.

She then only cried harder as they got to the vows, written by Luke and Lorelai themselves. Hearing about the trials and tribulations, the silly promises they made to each other (Lorelai to always keep life interesting and push Luke out of his comfort zone and Luke to always have enough coffee to provision an army), and their wholehearted desire to love each other for the rest of their days. All of it went right to Rory's tear ducts and created a deluge.

While Rory was silently crying at the long-awaited display of love that was happening before her, she caught the eye of Jess. He was Luke's best man, standing behind him as Rory was standing behind her mother. As he looked at her, tears streaming down her face and most likely ruining her makeup, he smiled a warm smile. She felt her heart flutter at the sight, which caught her slightly off guard. She quickly chalked it up the romantic atmosphere all around her.

Surely, she couldn't be feeling something for Jess. Could she?

The past several months of her life had been so consumed with Logan, because of the story, because of their relationship, because of Ricky and the court case. It had all become so much Logan Huntzberger that she hadn't even considered Jess all that much. Even when he'd come to her apartment and they'd had their awkward encounter, and Rory had come to the realisation that Jess potentially had feelings for her, she hadn't thought about it much more than that.

Yet here, at her mother's wedding, with all of that behind her, she was contemplating the possibility of Jess, and she wasn't all that upset at it.

Maybe she could give them another chance.


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

To say that the months since Miranda had called Rory into her office, what felt like so long ago in September, were hectic, would be an understatement in Rory's opinion. She had never thought, could never have imagined, what had transpired from that one meeting. Her life, previously routine and mundane, had been flipped on it's head.

But then, much like after a massive storm, the sun came out and life continued on. Logan's story was on the lips and minds of people for a few months. It was reignited after charges were formally brought, but by the following September, Rory was simply another by-line in the newspaper.

She wasn't upset by that. She hadn't gone into journalism to be a part of the story. She'd wanted to be a reporter to tell the story, to remain behind the pen. She was glad that she hadn't really received too much notoriety for the whole thing. The one thing that she had gained was a new appreciation at work. Miranda no longer seemed to disregard her and treat her like an insignificant nobody. In fact, shortly after she'd published her story on Huntzberger Enterprises, she got another story. And another after that.

Her personal life had settled back down as well. She'd told Ricky about his father a few days after her mother's wedding. He hadn't been particularly upset or angry. Like so much else in his life, he took in the information, sat on it for a few days, and then, about a week after, asked Rory if he could meet him. Since then, Logan and Ricky had met up a few times with fairly good results. Logan's house arrest was making things a little bit more difficult, but Ricky seemed to be thriving.

In terms of her romantic life, it had been pretty nonexistent. She hadn't had a date since Thanksgiving with Logan. Her life had been too crazy for her to really think about it. The spark that she felt with Jess was still there, still smoldering, but both of them had returned to their previous lives in which they only saw each other on the rare occasion.

But then came that one late September morning, as Rory walked through the streets of New York, on her way from dropping Ricky off to her job with a coffee stop in between. She walked into the coffee shop, a place she'd been to every day that week and the weeks before with no incident, and nearly walked into Jess. He had been leaving, hot beverage in hand, looking down at his phone, as Rory had been walking in.

"Jess!" Rory exclaimed, both from surprise at seeing him and in warning that she was there. Jess, surprised that someone in a city as large as New York knew his name, looked up and stopped. He was only a few inches from colliding with Rory and sending his coffee all over her.

"Rory?" he asked. "What are you doing here?" he blinked a few times before looking around.

"It's the only coffee shop between Ricky's school and my office. What are you doing here? I'm here basically every day and I haven't seen you here before." She smiled warmly at him. Jess had stopped close to her and hadn't yet moved away which was causing Rory's face to flush and her emotions to go a little crazy.

"I have a meeting around the corner," Jess responded. He was still standing familiarly close to her and that seemed to embolden Rory.

"I was thinking about you today actually. I was wondering if you would like to get dinner for me sometime this week, if you're not too busy." Rory asked her question and then held her breath. Her life had changed so much in the past year, could it change just a little bit more?

_The End_


End file.
